Role of Nano-Biotech in

Global Pharma Industry

Dr.Pawan Saharan
biomix108@yahoo.com
 The Biggest thing

right now in Industry just may be the

Smallest thing
Disease Burden in India

16% of world wide POPULATION

18% of world wide MORTALITY
20% of world wide MORBIDITY

– but only –

2% of world wide GDP

1% of world HEALTHCARE INVESTMENT
Nano-Biotech – Aiming to Meet Unmet
Medical Needs
•At present treatments available for just 10,000 of the 30,000
known diseases.

•Increase scope of conventional drug therapy from 500 diseases

today to nearly 10 000 in future

•20-30 million Europeans affected by 5000 rare diseases

•Focus on more comprehensive and highly individualized with

tailor-made medical treatment.

•To move from treatment towards disease prevention and cure

with improvements in diagnosis.
 Meanwhile Environment is Changing…

R&D productivity ?
new technologies
commercialization costs

Intensified
Intensified competition
competition Globalization,
Demanding political pressures,
financial markets Industry
Industry consolidation
consolidation NGOs

Shorter life cycles, patent threats,

regulatory issues,
healthcare cost containment
 Opportunities Ahead…

US$ billion Opportunities in the global market

Emergence of new technologies – Big phamacos willing to ally with smaller player
Increasing cost pressures – Pharma Cos willing to outsource
India being recognised as a global player
25-26

Innovation-led global opportunities (R&D )

IT-led sales and marketing opportunity
Export opportunity (Generics, bulk)

Unmet needs in the domestic market

5-6 700 million people do not have access to drugs despite low prices
Increasing urban lifestyle is giving rise to new diseases

2002 2010 Mass-market growth – Increase access to drugs

Shaping new therapies – Treat lifestyle diseases
Source : McKinsey
In this Changing Environment Pharmaceutical Research is in the
Midst of a Paradigm Shift Towards Drug Discovery …

Natural
products Serendipity Receptors Enzymes
and mi cs
no
derivatives Ge
Nano-biotech drugs for
chronic degenerative diseases
 Aging
Lipid lowerers
 Cancer
ACE inhibitors
 Inflammation
H-2 Antagonist
ß-blockers
NSAIDs

Psychotropics

Sulphanamides
Aspirin
Penicillins

1900 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010+

Source: Lehman Brothers
Application of Nano-biotech in the
Pharmaceutical Industry
 Improve sensitivity and extend present limits of
molecular diagnostics
 Enable high-throughput screening
 Shortens time to Drug development, resulting in
lower R&D cost
 Optimal Drug delivery
 Diagnostic applications in clinical trials
Potential Impact of Products Built Around
Nano-biotech
 Tiny machines that roam the body, finding and
destorying viruses or cancer cells
 Superfast drug discovery at a fraction of today’s
cost
 Ultraspecific drug targeting
 Medical devices that use biomotors with moving
parts no larger than a protein
Potential Impact of Nano-biotech on
Industry
 US National Science Foundation predicts that
nano-biotech will account for half of all
pharmaceutical sales within a decade
 Nanotechnology is an integral part of corporate
R&D across a wide range of industries
 Since 1999, 52% of the $900 million in venture
capital funding for nanotechnology has gone to
nano-biotech startups
Nano in Application

 Wyeth Rapamune to prevent organ

rejection in kidney transplant
patients, first product approved
using NanoCrystal technology
(August 2000)

 Merck License agreement with C Sixty to

develop drugs based on fullerene
antioxidants
Nano in Application
 Bristol-Myers Squibb Signed research
agreement with
NanoSystems to apply
NanoCrystal to products
that are poorly soluble
(September 2003)
License agreement with
Flamel Technologies to
develop and market
Basulin, a controlled-
release, unmodified
human insulin, to be
developed as a once-
daily injection for
diabetics
Recent Milestones of the “Coming to Life
Sciences”
 Tiny biochip created speeds up disease detection
« The ‘lab on a chip’ speeds up diagnosis by extracting gene
information from a tiny tissue sample no bigger than a sesame
seed.... »
The Straits Times, 16 January 2004
 Coin-sized chip detects early signs of breast cancer
« It is the first step towards doctors being able to conduct breast
cancer tests in their clinics. »
The Straits Times, 13 November 2003
 Nano-based blood glucose strip may give more accurate readings
for diabetics
Nanobiotech News, 29 October 2003
Top 10 Nano-biotech Companies

 Immunicon Diagnostic screening

using nanoparticles
 Quantum Dot Semiconductor nanocrystals
for biological assays
 Surface Logic Miniature biological assays
for drug discovery
 Genicon Sciences Nanoscale signal for
diagnostics
 PicoLiter Nanoparticle manufacturing
Source: Nature Biotechnology, Lux Capital
Top 10 Nano-biotech Companies

 US Genomics Single molecule analysis

assays for drug discovery
 Nanosphere Diagnostic nanoprobes and
image analysis
 Advion Biosciences Nanoelectrospray
bioanalysis using biochips
for drug delivery
 Ferx Drug delivery using
magnetic forces
 Nanogram devices Nanomaterials for
biomedical application
Source: Nature Biotechnology, Lux Capital
Investments in Nano-biotech Companies

Total Venture Capital raised by the Top 10

nano-biotech companies ~ $319
million
According to Lux Capital in
2002 investment in nano-biotech increased
by 313% over investment in 2001

Source: Nature Biotechnology, Lux Capital

 Nano-biotech:
the Future of Pharma
Research?
Zepto

Atto

Nano