The patent cliff is beginning to reduce Big Pharma’s sales figures as generic versions of branded drugs enter the market. Although FDA has remarked that pharmaceutical innovation is beginning to increase, not all companies are going to be able to market enough new drugs to make up for lost sales. So how will these vulnerable companies maintain their profits? Read more »

A dosage form that delivers several drugs, either at once or in succession, can have many benefits for patients. The administered drugs could have synergistic effects when delivered together, and the convenient dosage form could improve patient compliance. And, of course, reformulating several drugs for codelivery could help breathe new life into a company’s patents. All of these advantages came to mind when I learned about a multiple-compartment gel capsule developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Read more »

Innovative research is constantly being carried out in the pharma industry so it’s easy to start letting your eyes glide over some of the developments taking place. This week though a lot of eyes have been pulled to a study involving magnetically controlled pills. Many people would rather take drugs orally than via injection, but tablets do not always dissolve at exactly the right site in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract for absorption into the bloodstream. Magnetically-controlled pills, however, enable a tablet to be held in place at the correct site in the GI tract to optimize absorption. Read more »

Patients who take biological drugs traditionally have had little choice but to submit to injections. Yet needlephobes should take heart. Several partnerships are developing other ways to deliver large molecules that seem to show promise. Read more »

There has been a surge in the number of combination product (i.e. where a drug product is combined with a medical device) launches in recent years and this trend is set to continue as more companies seek to extend the life of existing branded medicines. According to analysts, the combination product market is currently worth 8 billion Euros and will grow by a staggering 40% during the next 3 years. Read more »

I have just returned from an event in France which, I have to say, really impressed me. Not because I had the perfect excuse to visit Paris for a couple of days (although that was undoubtedly a bonus), but because I was so impressed by the calibre of presentations and new innovations that were showcased from this relatively small meeting. Read more »

Art imitates life, and sometimes drug-delivery mechanisms do, too. Scientists often draw inspiration from natural agents and the body’s processes when developing carriers for therapies. Synthetic red blood cells are a new product of this strategy that seems to raise new possibilities in drug delivery. Read more »

Despite, or because of, economic difficulties and meager pipelines, the recent past has seen many drug companies investigate alternative delivery methods for new and established products. A new deal between GlaxoSmithKline (GSK, London) and Intercell (Vienna) reflects this trend and raises hopes for the development of innovative routes of administration. Read more »

When pipelines run dry, pharmaceutical companies are more likely to investigate alternative delivery methods as a way of distinguishing their drugs in the marketplace. In the past few weeks, I’ve noticed several intriguing delivery methods created by researchers around the world. I recently wrote about the new technique of encapsulating medicines in magnetite nanoparticles for repeated, long-term delivery. Along similar lines, scientists at Queen Mary, University of London have created “micro shuttles” that can be loaded with drugs and opened remotely. Read more »

Last week, I wrote that the increased attention to biological drugs, which are mostly taken through injections, was spurring interest in needle-free and implantable delivery methods for vaccines. Research into alternative delivery methods for vaccines could produce innovative ways of delivering other kinds of drugs as well, and I recently read about an inspired idea that a team of Boston researchers had for delivering intermittent doses of drugs. Read more »