June 30, 2006

For Immediate Release

According to a new report from MedMarket Diligence, over 150 companies are active in the field of drug delivery, and a large portion of them are seeking technologies that will result in improve specificity, reduced dose-induced toxicity, which makes the upside for nanotechnology and MEMS in drug delivery an opportunity of double-digit growth rates.  Nanotech and MEMS products are being developed to improve solubility and bioavailability, while differentially targeting tissues in order to increase dose levels at target sites and decrease the "collateral damage" on healthy tissue.

For this reason, cancer represents an enormous opportunity for nanomedicine and micromedicine in drug delivery. 

"The total world market opportunity for nanotech-derived drug delivery products and services was estimated at $290 million in 2005, which is less than 1% of the worldwide drug delivery market," says Patrick Driscoll, President of MedMarket Diligence. While much of the nanotech market's potential is hypothetical, Driscoll notes that the current markets, already at over a quarter billion, are on track to grow to $43 billion by 2010.

MedMarket Diligence's report on Nanomedicine and Micromedicine, described here, details the growing opportunity for nanotech and MEMS in drug delivery, as well as all other medical applications.

The MedMarket Diligence report is an assessment of the products and technologies under development of medical technologies at the nanometer scale and micrometer scale, and an assessment of the market potential for products/technologies to be successfully commercialized for use in clinical practice within a ten year forecast period. The report identifies the technological, market, regulatory or other hurdles to be crossed en route to commercialization. The report provides particular emphasis in detailing the current activities and status of product development at active companies. The report provides a thorough review of the companies active in nanotech and MEMS development, with profiles of over 100 companies. The report details, including table of contents, may be found at http://www.mediligence.com/rpt-t625.htm.

MedMarket Diligence provides tactical decision-making solutions on medical technology to the medical products and investment industries. The company publishes the MedMarkets newsletter, a monthly analysis of the market implications of new medical technologies, and dedicated reports on technology markets. MedMarkets has identified hundreds of startup companies (many in stealth mode) and tracks market trends and opportunities emerging from changes in clinical practice, new technology development and other market drivers. For additional details, contact Patrick Driscoll at email or call 949-859-3401 or toll-free (in the U.S.) at 1-866-820-1357.

MedMarket Diligence has released a report on the worldwide status of development and market for Micro- and Nanomedicine (see http://www.mediligence.com/rpt-t625.htm.

"The product and market development of nanotechnology and MEMS -- even limited to those in the biomedical field -- cover an incredibly diverse range of technologies, scientific disciplines, products and applications," says Patrick Driscoll, President of MedMarket Diligence (MMD). "And this has previously precipitated some wildly optimistic forecasts of market potential, yet the reality is that there are in fact many current, commercially established biomedical applications of nanotech and MEMS that are finally grounding some of the potential in real market success." According to Driscoll, a better than $1 billion market exists for these technologies, predominantly in MEMS, but steady growth is building toward hundred-fold larger markets by 2015, with nanotech applications contributing a lion's share.

As of May 2006, around 150 of the largest companies in the world had structured nanotechnology initiatives (i.e. research projects or product development plans) but that number may rise to around 300 over the next two or three years. With such enormous private investment being added to federal investment in the U.S. and similar government investment by other countries, there is a solid financial foundation for biomedical nanotechnology and MEMS market development.

Currently established MEMS applications include pacemakers, glucose monitoring, biochips (genechips), OTC tests, insulin pumps, nebulizers, needleless injectors, hearing aids, activity monitors, blood bressure, medical flow sensors, and drug delivery systems.

In nanomedicine, current applications include cancer chemotherapy, a new generation of drug delivery systems, wound dressings that exploit the antimicrobial properties of nanocrystalline silver, and others.

The MedMarket Diligence report is an assessment of the products and technologies under development of medical technologies at the nanometer scale and micrometer scale, and an assessment of the market potential for products/technologies to be successfully commercialized for use in clinical practice within a ten year forecast period. The report identifies the technological, market, regulatory or other hurdles to be crossed en route to commercialization. The report provides particular emphasis in detailing the current activities and status of product development at active companies. The report provides a thorough review of the companies active in nanotech and MEMS development, with profiles of over 100 companies. The report details, including table of contents, may be found at http://www.mediligence.com/rpt-t625.htm.

MedMarket Diligence provides tactical decision-making solutions on medical technology to the medical products and investment industries. The company publishes the MedMarkets newsletter, a monthly analysis of the market implications of new medical technologies, and dedicated reports on technology markets. MedMarkets has identified hundreds of startup companies (many in stealth mode) and tracks market trends and opportunities emerging from changes in clinical practice, new technology development and other market drivers. For additional details, contact Patrick Driscoll at email or call 949-859-3401 or toll-free (in the U.S.). 1-866-820-1357