Despite decades of effort, oral delivery of peptide, protein and antibody drugs remains a major pharmaceutical challenge, with only a handful of products on the market.

That is particularly disappointing as biologics are also the fastest growing segment of the pharma market, tripling in value from $36bn to $163bn between 2001 and 2012, thanks to their high specificity for drug targets. Their specificity derives from their structural complexity, which is also the reason they are so challenging to formulate and deliver.

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