Drug Device
Combination Products : Market Overview And Opportunities
Dr. Atul Sardana
Director
Alfa Corpuscles Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi |
Drug
device combination products are defined as the individual
products comprising of two regulated components, an active
pharmaceutical ingredient and medical device that are
chemically or physically combined to produce a “single
product”. Some examples are drug eluting stents, prefilled
syringes, bone graft implants, drug coated catheters,
photodynamic / ionotophoretic therapy, wound care
combination devices, inhalers, transdermal patches and
drug eluting beads.
These
products offer several advantages which include reduced
adverse side effects, dose sparing, improved patient
compliance, controlled release administration of drug, and
also provide targeted drug delivery. Combination products
have emerged as innovative medical products due to their
contribution in advancing medical care and
are thus expected to have major impact on the overall
medical devices market.
The
global drug device combination products market was valued
at USD 66 billion in 2012 and USD 96.3 billion in 2016,
showing a growth at a CAGR of 7.9%, to reach an estimated
value of USD 115 billion in 2019. Going further the market
is expected to grow to about USD 140 billion by 2025. |
The market is primarily driven by growing
patient and physician preference for minimally invasive
procedures and consistent-dosing treatment alternatives. The
growth of the Global Drug-device Combination Products
Market is driven by rise in incidence of chronic diseases
such as diabetes, cancer, and respiratory problems, increase
in casualties owing to accidents and trauma, rise in geriatric
population, growth in homebased healthcare market, and
technological advancements such as development of prefilled
syringes. However, factors, such as unnoticed complications of
drug-device combination products, number of product recalls,
and stringent government regulations, hamper the market
growth. Conversely, rise in healthcare infrastructure and high
market potential in untapped emerging economies are expected
to provide lucrative growth opportunities for the market.
The Subsequent increase in adoption of
these products can be credited to associated benefits such as
reduced pain levels, better patient outcome, reduced hospitals
stay, and overall healthcare cost efficiency. Other
advantages include synergistic effects facilitating
multitarget treatment, improved tolerance levels,
simplification of dosage regime, and improved symptomatic and
pharmacokinetic profiles. These benefits are expected to
propel demand for these systems and present
the market with numerous growth opportunities.
In addition, frequent intervention by
government health organizations to ensure high patient safety
is also a predominant market driver.
Moreover, unprecedented growth in the
development of clinical drugs and devices by large
pharmaceutical companies is believed to meet the demand for
advanced medication delivery technologies. This has resulted
in extensive product pipelines and maximized commercial
returns on already established products, thereby serving as a
significant driving factor for the industry.
The global drug-device combination
products market is segmented based on product, application,
end user, and region. On the basis of product, the market
is segmented into drug-eluting stent, infusion pump,
photodynamic therapy, antimicrobial wound dressing, prefilled
syringe, drug-eluting balloon, nebulizer, inhaler, transdermal
delivery system, and others.
Drug-eluting stents are further
sub-segmented into coronary stents and peripheral vascular
stents. The infusion pumps segment is further divided into
implantable infusion pump, insulin infusion pump,
patient-controlled analgesia pump, and ambulatory infusion
pump. Similarly, prefilled syringes are further categorized
into single-chamber prefilled syringes, dual-chamber prefilled
syringes, and customized prefilled syringes. The drug-eluting
balloon segment is bifurcated into coronary drug-eluting
balloon and peripheral drug-eluting balloon. The inhaler
segment is further segmented into drug powder inhaler (DPI),
metered dose inhaler (MDI), and soft
mist inhaler (SMI). Lastly, the transdermal delivery system
segment is bifurcated into passive delivery system and active
delivery system.
The transdermal delivery system segment
accounted for the largest market share in 2017 and is expected
to continue this trend throughout the forecast period.
Advantages associated with adoption of transdermal patches
include better patient compliance and reduced risk of
needlestick injuries and infections, which further accelerates
demand for these patches. Moreover, rising patient preference
for pain-free drug delivery has led to a significant surge in
adoption of adhesive skin patches to administer drugs. This is
expected to present the market with tremendous growth
potential over the forecast period.
On the other hand, the prefilled syringe
segment is anticipated to grow at a significant CAGR of
9.9% during the forecast period. This can be attributed to
increasing demand for self
administration of drugs in cases of diseases requiring
long-term treatment. For instance, in diabetes, insulin is
needed to be frequently administered intravenously into the
patient’s body. This repeated use of injections to deliver
insulin causes pain and increases risk of infection
transmission, thus leading to
heightened growth prospects for alternative drug delivery
modes.
|