drug delivery

pSivida's core focus is in the rapidly growing market for new drug delivery formulations, where the value of the global drug delivery market is in excess of US$66 billion, and is estimated to grow to US$114 billion by 2007 (Datamonitor).

Improvement of drug delivery is important for better patient safety and drug bioavailability. Furthermore, the use of novel drug delivery systems is an increasingly important strategy for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies as they recognize the opportunities in forging relationships with drug delivery companies, to enable the delivery of new drugs while also extending the commercial life of their current drugs.

BioSilicon's™ properties make it an ideal drug delivery platform, including: high efficiency/capacity of drug loading-up to 95% ability to control release kinetics (over hours/ days/weeks/months) silicon by-product following biodegradation is silicic acid controlled nanostructuring can vary nanosized pores to accommodate different drug sizes conduction of charge - and semiconductor properties uniquely allow the potential construction of ‘smart' processor controlled delivery intelligence - potential microchip incorporation for ‘smart' diagnostics

Unlike most polymer-based drug delivery systems, the manufacture of BioSilicon™ does not require complex chemistry and the final product is pure silicon irrespective of the delivery characteristics imparted by the nanostructuring process.

BioSilicon™ also distinguishes itself from other delivery systems by its heat and radiation stability, simplifying manufacture and sterilization.