Powering Pharma Future by Innovative Drug Delivery Solutions

The history of drug administering can date back to the ancient Egyptian era, when sometimes clay pellets were used for drug delivery. Fast forward to the 1960s, when controlled drug delivery and time release systems were introduced, the technology at that time allowed for the slow/continuous release of medications. Since then, research related to drug delivery has grown leaps and bounds. More and more delivery systems are proved to perform well as safe and effective methods.

• Nanoparticles

Nanomedicine and nano delivery systems are a relatively new but rapidly developing science where materials in the nanoscale range are employed to serve as means of diagnostic tools or to deliver therapeutic agents to specific targeted sites in a controlled manner.

Nanoparticles are typically 100–500 nm in size. By modifying their properties, it is possible to optimize bioavailability, decrease clearance, and increase stability, making them ideal "carriers" for delivering a particular drug to its specific target-tissue.

Their advantages as drug carriers include the specific abilities to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB), enter the pulmonary system, and pass through the tight junctions of endothelial cells.

"How to design a drug carrier that can specifically deliver drugs to the site of disease is always the main focus of current pharmaceutical research. And cell membrane-coated drug delivery has shown a novel top-down approach to faithfully transferring the entire cell exterior, including both lipids and membrane-associated proteins, onto synthetic nanoparticle drugs," a scientist from Creative Biolabs introduced. Committed to the application of cell surface engineering in drug delivery for years, Creative Biolabs has gained extensive experience in providing cell surface conjugation services for drug delivery research.

• Liposomes

Liposomes are phospholipid vesicles that have one or more concentric lipid bilayers enclosing discrete aqueous spaces. They are the most widely used and researched drug delivery system.

Liposomes get a wealth of advantages as a drug delivery technology, including biocompatibility, self-assembly capability, the potential to transport large drug payloads, as well as a variety of physicochemical and biophysical characteristics that may be adjusted to influence their biological characteristics.

Many liposomal products are on the market with more in clinical development. Some of the most successful delivery methods rely on PEG conjugated lipids.

• Microspheres

Microspheres are small (1–1000 µm) spherical particles, that are typically prepared from linear polymers and are described as "free flowing powdered drug delivery systems". When it comes to their use as a drug delivery system, they possess numerous advantageous properties including being; biodegradable, biocompatible and easily administered. They can be used for both localized and targeted delivery of drugs. The drug is dispersed throughout the polymer matrix of the microsphere. Microspheres can be prepared using either natural polymers or synthetic polymers.

Synthetic polymers can be further classified depending on whether they are biodegradable or non-biodegradable. The persistence of non-biodegradable microspheres in the body can increase the risk of toxicity over longer time periods. Biodegradable polymers, however, do not pose the same risk, making them better suited to parenteral applications.

Other carrier-based methods include resealed erythrocytes, niosomes and monoclonal antibodies. With advances in biotechnology, genomics, and combinatorial chemistry, a wide variety of new, more potent and specific therapeutics are being created.

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