Anyone who’s prone to sea sickness can appreciate the marvel of transdermal drug delivery. When keeping ones’ eyes focused on the horizon doesn’t quell the queasy feeling that comes with motion sickness, a patch of scopolamine behind the ear does wonders. Transderm Scop, introduced to the market in 1981, was one of the first transdermal drug formulations. The industry has come a long way since then, and indeed, in a drug delivery device industry on track to reach almost $23 billion by the year 2011 (according to " US Markets for Drug and Fluid Delivery Devices," published in October 2007 by Windhover Information’s Medtech Insight division) the transdermal sector will grow at a faster rate than injection or inhalation drug delivery systems. ( See Exhibit 1.) Transdermal delivery technologies will grow at a compound annual rate of more than 11% over the next four years, building up to sales of $3.5 billion in the year 2011, according to the report.
As always, patches for pain management will account for a good percentage of that growth, sustaining the double-digit growth that...
