Industry Update: the latest developments in therapeutic delivery.

The present industry update covers the period 2-28 February 2013, with information sourced from company press releases, regulatory and patent agencies, as well as from scientific literature. With the US presidential inauguration in January, the inevitable 'fiscal cliff' and with the healthcare reform taking shape, there are many challenges ahead for the world's largest healthcare market. Healthcare providers are preparing for the 'accountable care organizations' paradigm shift and it has been reported that the pharmaceutical industry is low in public perception; only 'for-profit' health insurers rank lower according to a survey recently published. Although in 2012 one could still observe a decline in the overall number of drug delivery partnering deals announced, there has been a slight recovery, thus, meaning a repeat of the lows of 2011 have not been witnessed. The experts expect a reversed trend in 2013 as larger companies seek to refill pipelines with new candidates and drug-delivery solutions. There is a lot of emphasis on altered oral delivery profiles to provide patient compliance. This is indicated by the recent licensing deals, such as that between Radius Health Inc. and 3M, TissueGen and Biomedical Structures, and new financing rounds of companies, such as SKL, Catalent and BioActiva. Injectable technology, including needle-free delivery, continues to be prevalent in deals, such as those between Clearside and Kala until compelling alternatives to the delivery of biologicals are available. Alternative routes of administration, such as nasal, buccal (Kala), sublingual (Stallergenes) see growing interest; however, bioavailability and reproducible dosing will continue to be a challenge in the foreseeable future.