Drug Delivery's Product Risk and Reward

The great recognition of the drug delivery industry is that technologies don't sell--only drugs do. The result: drug delivery start-ups today must be drug companies, selling their best shot at using their technologies to create highly differentiated drug products. To do so, start-ups are pursuing two different visions. On the one hand are those who try to do as little as possible to the underlying molecule, thereby reducing risk and cost while relying on their system for product differentiation. On the other are those who believe that only important modifications to the molecule, or at least a deep understanding of the biology underlying a specific compound's therapeutic role, permit fundamental improvements in treatment.