Proteins represent the largest class of biotech drug ap-provals, and the numbers will continue to rise as work with the human genome sequence proceeds. Figures from 2000 show that 86% of 77 approved biotech medicines are proteins, with hundreds more in the pipeline.1
Yet, delivering proteins--that is, getting the drug into the body so that it retains its functionality--is problematic. Pills, by far the preferred method, do not work without some fancy engineering to shepherd the proteins safely through the gastrointestinal tract. And injections are literally a pain. It's no wonder that over 300 companies are designing novel drug delivery systems, according to a report from market research firm Frost and Sullivan.2 Vectors, buckyballs, nanotubes, and microchips are just some devices being harnessed to deliver drugs. And every bodily surface is fair game--nose, lungs, skin, gut, even the eye.
Take insulin, for example. Since 1922, patients with diabetes have been ...
