Encapsulation may be defined as a process to entrap one substance within another substance,
thereby producing particles with diameters of a few nm to a few mm. The great thing about
encapsulation is that the applications are almost endless (mainly pharma/food/medical).
However, the current encapsulation technologies have limitations, such as leakage and limited
shelf life.
Bether Encapsulates developed together with Princeton University a solution that could change
these markets radically. They are able to encapsulate drugs as well as other ingredients in a
shell of air. This patented solution, called a particle-stabilized anti-bubbles, will overcome
all the limitations that current encapsulation technologies have.
The most obvious applications for this invention seenn to be in the life sciences and health
sector, as it could be used as technological solution for taste masking of drugs and for
triggered and local drug delivery.
The market potential of a new and better encapsulation technology is huge. To give an
indication of the current encapsulation business, for food it is estinnated to be a 25 billion dollar
business worldwide, whereas the market for drug encapsulation is estimated to amount to
close to 100 billion dollar in the US alone.
The aim of this feasibility study is to identify the most promising & feasible development
path(s) for the anti-bubble technology based on an assessnnent. This feasibility study will focus
on the assessment of 3 fields (pharnna/food/imaging guided therapy) and ultimately aims to
deternnine the specific applications in all these three fields.
The diversity of applications, in combination with the fact that Bether Encapsulates is a startup
company, makes that it is necessary to examine the feasibility of the development of
various applications on both economic and technical aspects.
