Commercialization Timelines
The two timelines below illustrate estimated commercialization time frames for a select set of nanotechnology drugs, delivery systems, diagnostic tests and devices that are currently being developed—from applications that are in early stage development to applications that are already in latter stages of clinical trials.
Drug Delivery Applications Timeline
For each stage of the development process, time frames were estimated as to when the various drugs, delivery systems, diagnostic tests and devices that are currently being researched are expected to be commercialized. These time frames are based on the number of years that FDA regulated products generally take to get through each stage of the development process. The number of years allocated to each phase of the development process (early stage development, preclinical testing, phase I clinical testing, phase IIa clinical testing, phase IIb clinical testing, phase III clinical testing, and FDA review/process) is based on the report “Phases of Product Development,” published by Dale E. Wierenga, Ph.D. and C. Robert Eaton.
The number corresponding to each phase of development represents the number of drugs or products currently in that stage or estimated to be commercialized during that time frame, according to data provided by NanoBiotech News’ 2006 Nanomedicine, Device & Diagnostics Report. As shown in the timelines, there are 77 drugs, delivery systems, diagnostic tests and devices related to cancer and 56 related to drug delivery in general. In both cases, it is evident that a vast majority of items fall within the early stage development and preclinical testing phases. These applications are just a fraction of the actual number of nanotechnology products currently in the development pipeline; however, this trend is one that is seen for products in most branches of nanomedicine.
