The last two decades have witnessed multiple innovations and commercialization of new medical agents and drug delivery mechanism. These innovations in drug delivery systems have not only enabled the successful implementation of many of these novel pharmaceuticals products such as transdermal patches, but have also permitted the development of new medical treatments with existing drugs. The need of more innovation in field of transdermal drug delivery system is still huge and will remain so in the upcoming years of the medicinal world.
If taken a look at the medicinal markets of the world, indeed they are now replete with medications designed to ease and cure the symptoms associated with thousands of conditions. Traditional medication delivery methods, such as pills, capsules, liquids, powders, and intravenous needles, are often inefficient or invasive and can lead to undesirable side effects.
Amongst the newer methodologies for administration of medicines is the use of transdermal approaches, including gels and patches for the treatment of many of the more common ailments. The creation of transdermal delivery systems has been one of the most important innovations, offering a number of advantages over the oral route.
Transdermal patches comprise a method of delivering medication through the skin in a non-invasive manner. During transdermal drug delivery, a patch is simply applied on the epidermal layer of a patient’s skin. The patch is modulated to contain the medication prescribed to the patient and is designed in such a way that the medication permeates the skin in a controlled fashion thus attaining more steady levels of the drug in the body.
Transdermal patches presently donning the market are formulated in accordance with requirement of the medicinal therapy. They can be worn for as low as 8 hours to as long as 7 days depending on the therapeutic indication. These patches are secured with adhesives, which are designed to adhere comfortably to the skin which in turn allows a patient to use the patches for as long as is indicated by his or her physician. Transdermal drug delivery provides excellent control of the rate of delivery directly into the bloodstream. It also offers a predictable pharmacokinetic profile and constant drug levels over extended periods of time without the extreme peak/trough fluctuations inherent in oral administration with the inherent power of discontinuation of therapy immediately by simply removing the patch.
The market for transdermal products has skyrocketed since its innovation and is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. An increasing number of Transdermal drug delivery (TDD) products continue to deliver real therapeutic benefit to patients around the world. The FDA approved a total of 32 transdermal products over the past 20 years, the majority of which use passive transport that allows the drug to be continually absorbed into the skin via natural processes.
Technologies behind transdermal patches are improving continuously and have been introduced for different indication in US. They have been introduced for new indications for which no transdermal product was available allowing them to occupy major market shares. Increase in demand for better therapeutics at affordable prices is expected to be the main factor behind their growth in US market. Improved material science, advanced manufacturing capabilities and high acceptance rates will further propel growth in this segment. However, some immediate issues like lesser coverage of indications have yet to be overcome in coming years. Another issue is technology related, which has definitely improved, but needs to be improved in order to come forth with diseases like HIV infection. Overall, transdermal patch market in US is expected to grow continuously reflecting optimistic future.
“US Transdermal Patch Market Outlook 2020” Report Highlights: