Nanoparticles technology > Target markets

Markets & Competition
Lux Research predicts that by 2014, 16% of manufactured goods in healthcare and life sciences will include nano-materials. Omega has a compelling value proposition for several lucrative segments in these markets.
 
The Pharma Market
With dwindling pipelines and impending losses of billions of dollars of revenue due to patent expirations, pharma companies are turning to new nano-based technologies to improve drug formulation and drug delivery methodologies and thereby enhance the value of their currently marketed products.

Examples of these rapidly growing markets are:

• Nanosizing of API to increase solubility and bioavailability of drugs.

• Nanotechnology-enabled drug delivery, involving alternative route for drug delivery (i.e. transdermal and inhalation- based delivery attempting to replace conventional oral-, infusion- and injection- based administration).
   

The Cosmetics Market
Despite lingering public concerns about the safety of nano-particles, the use of nanotechnology in cosmetics is expected to grow rapidly in the medium-to-long term.
Experts now believe that nanotechnology, used as an enabling feature, is likely to create a distinct and new category within the cosmetics and personal care arena. For example, nano-sized ingredients are employed in the sun care category, where nano-titanium oxide and nano-zinc oxide have become industry standard for effective protection.
Anti-aging is another segment in which nano-sized actives are common, due to their vastly improved efficacy. Nano-based ingredients are also entering the hair care and skin care arena, where ingredients that deliver substances that can penetrate the cellular structure of the skin or hair follicle are gaining ground.
 
The Nutrition Market
Currently, the market of nanotechnology products in the food industry approaches $1 billion, most of this in nano-particle coatings for preserving and packaging technologies, and some in health promoting products, additives, and beverages. The market has the potential to grow to more than $20 billion in the next decade.

Two major fields in the nutrition market are turning to nanotechnology for improving their products performance:

• Dietary supplements, i.e. preparation intended to supplement the diet and provide nutrients (such as vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc.) that may be missing or may not be consumed in sufficient quantities in a normal diet.

• Functional foods ,when a new ingredient or more has been added to a food and thereby the new product has a new function, usually related to health promotion additives or disease-prevention compounds.

In both of these categories, the advantages gained by nanotechnology stem from the ability to increase solubility and dispersability of ingredients, and the ability to promote the bioactivity of the active ingredients through nano-sizing.