The targeted delivery technology value chain spans materials, delivery platforms, and end-user applications. This week’s graphic charts the field of competitors developing advanced materials for targeted delivery and controlled release of active ingredients. Solutions range from the highly experimental – such as harvested red blood cells or micro-injectors from sea anemones – to alternative materials, such as cyclodextrins, silicone, or non-encapsulating polymer-based solutions. Clearly, some players are more mature and technologically ready than others.
Among the companies occupying the Grid’s dominant quadrant is Monosol Rx, which is developing novel, dissolvable thin films for targeted delivery in drugs and consumer products, like Listerine Breath Strips. It owes its position on the Grid to a well-qualified management team, steady growth in product development (e.g. seven approved products on the market) and partnerships (e.g. signed agreements with 10 to 15 different firms, including a large pharmaceutical company). Additionally, it recently gained U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its oral soluble film, which helped it land a total of $6 million in milestone payments (see the July 27, 2010 LRTJ - client registration required). Other category-leading companies in the quadrant include Fertin and Cafosa (developing controlled-release gums) and Depomed, with its gastric retention pill.
The high-potential quadrant includes NuSil Technology, whose silicone-based platform controls release of actives by adjusting the silicone’s properties. With applications in implants and skin care, the company scores highly on Technical Value because silicone is such a versatile material for delivery applications and devices. It fares less well on Business Execution only because it hasn’t disclosed any major partnerships. That leaves an open door for companies such as 3M, which has 30 years of transdermal formulation expertise and dozens of products in the space. While NuSil is an attractive candidate for partnership, InSite Vision and Dendritech should be approached with greater care even though their promising technologies land them in the same quadrant.
Source: Lux Research report “Targeting Emerging Delivery Technologies across the Value Chain: From Chemicals and Materials Suppliers to End-Products and Applications.
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