Medical nanotechnology: the obstacles hampering a future dominant market

Abstract

Nanomedicine, the application of nanotechnology in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, takes advantage of materials on the nanometer scale. Although business experts find it difficult to estimate the volume and growth rate of the nanomedicine market, it is expected to grow significantly in the next decade. Despite nanotherapeutics have promising expectations for the future of healthcare, some impediments blocking their success have to be removed: consumer as well as physician distrust, ineffective regulation of new and generic products, insurance market failure, weak patent protection and a low interest by big pharma due to their high acquisition cost. However, to assess the total cost of nanodrugs, all direct and indirect costs of treatment as well as health effects should be included.