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Nanomedicine is at the frontline of new drug delivery
They are shrinking our medical world, reports Business Line. Soon there will be ‘midgets’ in drugs, scans and possibly all that touches us health-wise. Drug researchers are going to unimaginably small or ‘nano’ lengths — a millionth of a millimetre or less — to create accurate disease detection, affordable cures and targeted medicine.
According to Prof Amarnath Maitra of the University of Delhi's Chemistry Department and one of India's leading nano-missionaries, nanotech can change the face of the healthcare sector as it cuts doses of antibiotics, lowers side-effects and drug wastage.
Oral drugs
Other possibilities are new oral drugs, affordable and faster treatment of diseases like malaria and TB, said Prof Maitra, whose not-so-nano credits include transfer of six technologies to industry; work with Dabur; hunt for malaria vaccine; 11 national patents and six international patents.
Prof Maitra said, during 1984-2004, 38 nanotech healthcare products were available globally with annual sales of $6.8 billion. In the US, Abraxane has made $175 million sales.
Despite much nano activity and the new Rs 1,000-crore Central dole, the Indian scene is nascent, with Rs 200 crore invested in five years. "The nano-drug industry has not matured enough to talk of a market, as the research is happening in the IITs and the IISc. A product may take 10-15 years to evolve," Mr Balasubramanian said.
"We need to find buyers for our nanotechnology and enter into rapid collaborations with companies overseas," he added. Yet, with long-term safety concerns still to be allayed, "You should also be cautious as you don't know what's coming up next."
