Ocular drug delivery is a cumbersome challenge to the researchers and medical field as the physiology and anatomy of eye is relatively complex. The conventional drugs are available in the market, but they are lesser efficient to act some particular sites of eye. Therefore research for enhanced eye treatment is still an ongoing process to develop advanced technology with better outcome. Topical treatment is the conventional approach and still dominates the market owing to easy application and in terms of affordability. Ocular implants and inserts have broken down the limitations exerted by topical drug delivery approach and hence predicted to grow in forecasting periods.

Visual impairment is associated with age, hence growing aging population leads to the growth of ocular drug delivery technology. Global rising rate of cataract and glaucoma is the reason of rapidly growing market of drug delivery technology.  The increasing bioavailability of newer drug delivery approach with controlled dosage system has driven the market of ocular drug delivery technology to grow more.  The healthcare expenditure in R&D for manufacturing innovative products to overcome the barrier of the ocular treatment and easy government approval accelerate the growth of ocular drug delivery technology market. The improved eye-care infrastructure is being developed in the least developing regions across the globe to provide better solution to the patients suffering from eye-disorder and also rising public concern for regular eye check-up, drive the ocular drug delivery technology market. One of the key driver of ocular drug delivery technology is the evolution of advanced technologies like ocular implants and ocular inserts which provide improved and effective treatment by adequate intraocular penetration. However sometimes discomfort of the treatment procedure or lack of safety may pose some challenges to the growth of the market.

The purpose of this research study titled ‘Ocular drug delivery technology Market - Growth, Future Prospects, and Competitive Analysis, 2017 – 2025’ is to provide investors, developers, company executives and industry participants with in-depth analysis to allow them to take strategic initiatives and decisions related to the prospects in the global ocular drug delivery technology market. This report presents and analyzes the major trends prevalent in the global ocular drug delivery technology market and the market size and forecast.

This report categorizes the global ocular drug delivery technology market in terms of technology type, indication type and geographical distribution. Depending on the technology type, the ocular drug delivery technology market is classified as follows:

• Topical Medication
• Ophthalmic injection/Intravitreal injection
• Ocular insert
• Ocular implant
• Others

Based upon the indication types, the ocular drug delivery technology market is categorized as:

• Cataract
• Glaucoma
• Age related macular degeneration
• Diabetic Retinopathy
• Eye infection
• Dry eyes
• Others

Cataract is in the leading indication type in the global ocular drug delivery technology market and predicted to remain in the leading position in upcoming periods.

Geographically, the ocular drug delivery technology market is best understood by segmenting the market into five major regions and chief region level markets as follows:

• North America
  • U.S.
  • Canada
• Europe
  • U.K.
  • Germany
  • Rest of Europe
• Asia Pacific
  • Japan
  • China
  • Rest of Asia Pacific
• Latin America Middle East and Africa
  • Brazil
  • Mexico
  • Rest of Latin America
• Middle East and Africa
  • GCC
  • Rest of Middle East and Africa

The market size and forecast of each considered geographical market is presented for the period 2015-2025 along with CAGRs for the forecast period 2017-2025 in this study and are further cross-sectional presented in terms of type of products, type of end users and constituent region/country level markets.

This report also includes qualitative assessment factors such as market dynamics (drivers, restraints and opportunities) to have a good understanding of the current and anticipated trends in the global ocular drug delivery technology market. Competition assessment tools such as, major agreements, partnerships and collaborations, market attractiveness assessment and competitive landscape analysis by key players are also demonstrated in the study. Furthermore, this report concludes with profiling of key market players currently enjoying prominent position in the ocular drug delivery technology market. The major players profiled in this report are Alimera Sciences, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., Ocular Therapeutix, Inc., Allergan, Plc., Clearside Biomedical, EyeGate Pharma, Envisia Therapeutics, Inc., Graybug Vision Inc., and others.

Eye being one of the most complex and crucial organ, management of ocular disorder is quite challenging. Scientists have been working to overcome the barriers of ocular drug delivery caused by the protecting layers of the eye. Till date various ocular drug delivery systems have been evolved and many more are emerging and predicted to bring path breaking innovations by minimizing the challenges. 

On the basis of technology the ocular drug delivery technology market is segmented as below:

• Topical
• Ophthalmic injection/Intravitreal injection
• Ocular insert
• Ocular implant
• Others

The topical treatment of eye is done with the means of gel, liquid drop or ointment. The topical segment is anticipated to be the largest in terms of market share due to the easy application and affordability and expected to remain dominant in the ocular drug delivery technology market. The topical medicine is applied on the surface of the eye; hence easy to treat anterior part of eye but ineffective to treat posterior segment. The Intravitreal injection is a common treatment procedure of age related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy or uveitis. The popularity and usage of the injection is increasing due to the better efficacy, faster and improved drug transfer when compared to topical or systemic drug delivery system.

Advancement in ocular drug delivery technology develops ocular implants that helps to treat wide range of disorders from diabetic retinopathy to glaucoma and vision correction in a dosage-dependent manner. Biodegradable implants market is expected to grow faster as its preference owing to easy dissolution at eye site. The ocular insert releases containing drug in sustained way; the removal of insoluble insert from the site of application is necessary unlike soluble one.

On the basis of indication the ocular drug delivery technology market has been categorized as below:

• Cataract
• Glaucoma
• Age related macular degeneration
• Diabetic Retinopathy
• Eye infection
• Dry eyes
• Others

As per the study of World Health Organization (WHO) around 285 million people are visually impaired and 90% of them are from developing countries. Cataract is the most common problem among all the eye-related disorder which is responsible for 48% blindness all over the world. WHO estimated approximately 18 million people lose their vision owing to cataract. Cataract is dominating and anticipated to be in leading position in the ocular drug delivery technology market due to the growing aging population, increasing risk factors like diabetes, trauma or smoking. Increasing expenditure in healthcare, improved eye-care infrastructure, accessible set-ups in the least developed regions, initiatives from various organization for eye check-up and cost-effectiveness of the treatment further fuelling the growth of cataract treatment across the globe. Glaucoma is predicted to be the second leading cause of blindness worldwide, hence the growing public awareness propels the growth of ocular drug delivery technology market.

The age related macular degeneration is the third most common reason of blindness. With the growing risk-factors associated with AMD like aging population, diet pattern, smoking habits, the prevalence of AMD is rising and so the market of ocular drug delivery technology is also expanding.

Diabetic retinopathy is associated with diabetes that damages blood vessel of retina   which is on global rise due to the changed lifestyle. Growing prevalence of diabetes drive the diabetic retinopathy treatment, so the ocular drug delivery technology market.

Geographically, the global ocular drug delivery technology market is cumulative to North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and Latin America.

Geographically, North America is predicted to be the leading market of the ocular drug delivery technology followed by Europe. The increasing prevalence of eye-related diseases, especially macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and also growing trouble in vision on account of constantly changing lifestyle and diets, drive the ocular drug delivery technology market to grow faster. According to the research of National Eye Institute 24.4 million Americans are affected with cataracts and around 2.7 million people are suffering from glaucoma. Since these problems are on rise, so the involvement of ocular drugs, which in turn drive the ocular drug delivery technology market.

Presence of major manufacturers along with the healthcare expenses in R&D to develop innovative products for the ophthalmic treatment and its acceptability among physician are the key factors behind the rapidly growing ocular drug delivery technology market in North American region. Many manufacturers have started in-licensing approach to receive easy approval of drugs in U.S. which fuels the growth of ocular drug delivery technology market.  The rising aging population and risk of diabetes lead to sharply increasing visual disability in European region, where approximately 25 million people are visually disabled as per research study.

Visual impairment is associated with age, hence rising geriatric population increases the demand of ocular drugs and propels the growth of ocular drug delivery technology market in Asia-Pacific region. Increasing disease prevention by creating health awareness and stronger eye-care infrastructure are driving the ocular drug delivery technology market in this region.

The detailed regional classification of the global optical drug delivery technology market is as follows:

• North America (U.S. & Canada)
• Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy and Rest of Europe)
• Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan and Rest of Asia Pacific)
• Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, and Rest of Latin America)
• Middle East and Africa (GCC and Rest of Middle East and Africa)