Depending upon how loose you want the criteria to be, you might get away with something like this.

my $term = 'P100';

## my $re = qr[@{[ join '\W*', split '', $term ]}]; # Improved slightl
+y.

my $re = qr[@{[ join '\W*', map "\Q$_\E", split '', $term ]}]x;

for( 
    'P100', 'P-100', 'P 100', 'P1 00', 
    'the P 100 is very similar in style to the P-101 & P102.'.
    'The P-100 is a generation behind the P1000' 
) {
        print "Matched $1" while  m[\b($re)\b]g;
};;
Matched P100
Matched P-100
Matched P 100
Matched P1 00
Matched P 100
Matched P-100
[download]

You could also add /i if you want case insensitivity.