The Commercial Opportunity  

The developers of pharmaceutical products today are faced with ever-increasing pressure to produce more effective products within reduced development timelines. In order to meet corporate objectives of building on last year’s sales, the large pharmaceutical companies must continue to bring new products to market. To become profitable these products must meet clinically unmet needs more effectively than products that are already available.

In the past 30 years an impressive number of new drug molecules have been discovered to address specific disease targets. Recently, the emergence of advanced drug delivery technologies has offered alternative means of addressing a clinically unmet need.

Today a pharmaceutical company will consider whether it is possible to improve upon the treatment of disease by incorporating an existing drug into a new dose form, rather than discovering a brand new one. For companies with successful products that are nearing the end of patent life, using advanced drug delivery technologies to launch proprietary line extension products is an attractive option.

There are many examples of products utilising advanced drug delivery technologies for established medicines, including:

• sustained release tablets and capsules

• transdermal creams and patches

• inhaled and intranasal products

• rapid onset oral sprays and tablets

Thus there exists a commercial opportunity for Eiffel Technologies to deliver a customized process technology that can meet the challenge of enhancing the performance and delivery of drugs. Eiffel has facilities, technology and capabilities that can be applied towards a range of applications for enhanced product performance. Eiffel's commercial strategy is to develop intellectual property from products and processes arising from its research and development activities, and to derive revenues via feasibility studies and licensing agreements with pharmaceutical companies.

Page updated April 24, 2007