Transdermal Delivery Market to Hit $7.9 Billion by 2010

New biological treaments have no where to go without adequate drug delivery mechanisms. For that reason, transdermal and transmucosal delivery systems, with their ability to deliver substantial amounts of drugs over a long period of time, find themselves in a cozy position. According to a new report from market research firm Kalorama Information, sales of these systems totaled $6.7 billion in 2006 and by 2010 will reach $7.9 billion. “The move in the industry is to greatly capitalize on easier methods of administration of drugs to maintain patient compliance and for administration of products that eliminate possibilities of contamination and infection,” said Mary Anne Crandall, author of the report, Drug Delivery Markets, Vol. IV: Transdermal and Transmucosal Delivery Systems. The report credits OTC availability of the transdermal nicotine patch for creating wide-spread acceptance of this delivery method. Approved 12 years ago, the patch spurred an industry segment that Kalorama says totaled $5.7 billion in 2006.