Nanotechnology in medicine: from inception to market domination

Globally defined as the application of nanotechnology to the clinical arena, nanomedicine has its roots in the same basic concepts and principles of nanotechnology; that is, materials with the nanoscale features present unique characteristics, otherwise absent at a macroscopic level [1]. Just as nanotechnology benefits frommathematics and engineering, nanomedicine too has a multidisciplinary nature involving notions and techniques borrowed from biology, chemistry, and physics [2]. As a result of this successful marriage, nanostructure materials display emerging functions that have exceptional benefits when applied to medical devices. The success of nanotechnology in the healthcare sector is driven by the possibility to work at the same scale of several biological processes, cellular mechanisms, and organic molecules; for this reason, medicine has looked at nanotechnology as the ideal solution for the detection and treatment of many diseases. One of the many applications of nanotechnology to the medical sector is in the field of drug delivery. The advent of protocols and methods for the synthesis, functionalization, and use of nanoparticles and nanocarriers has flooded the scientific and clinic community with new therapeutic approaches from molecular targeting to radiofrequency ablation and from personalized therapies to minimally invasive techniques. While most members of the investment community are able to grasp the meaning of nanotechnology and can expertly launch andmanage a viable product into the market, they are limited in their conceptual understanding of this scientific discipline and the intricate inner workings behind the product’s functionality [3]. On the contrary, those involved in the scientific research recognize that nanomedicine is an expansion of nanotechnology but have very little understanding of the business expertise required to develop their technologies into a commercial product [3]. Cooperation is therefore needed between the two factions in order to lead nanomedicine-based inventions to a successful market position.