Drug delivery systems, recent developments

Yandamme, T.F. 2002. Microemulsions as ocular drug delivery systems Recent developments and future challenges. Prog Retin Eye Res 21 15. 

Courrier HM, Butz N, Vandamme TF. Pulmonary drug delivery systems recent developments and prospects. Crit Rev Ther Drug Carrier Syst. 2002 19 425-498. 

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J. Shen, D. Burgess, In vitro dissolution testing strategies for nanoparticulate drag delivery systems recent developments and challenges. Drug Deliv. Trans. Res. 3 (5) (2013) 409-415. 

Recent developments in polymer chemistry have allowed for the synthesis of a remarkable range of well-defined block copolymers with a high degree of molecular, compositional, and structural homogeneity. These developments are mainly due to the improvement of known polymerization techniques and their combination. Parallel advancements in characterization methods have been critical for the identification of optimum conditions for the synthesis of such materials. The availability of these well-defined block copolymers will facilitate studies in many fields of polymer physics and will provide the opportunity to better explore structure-property relationships which are of fundamental importance for hi-tech applications, such as high temperature separation membranes, drug delivery systems, photonics, multifunctional sensors, nanoreactors, nanopatterning, memory devices etc. 

Significant developments have occurred in recent years in the fields of biopolymers and biomaterials. New synthetic materials have been synthesized and tested for a variety of biomedical and related applications from linings for artifical hearts to artifical pancreas devices and from intraocular lenses to drug delivery systems. Of particular interest in the future is the development of intelligent polymers or materials with special functional groups that can be used either for specialty medical applications or as templates or scaffolds for tissue regeneration. 

More recently, we have seen the development of drug delivery systems as a specialized sector in the pharmaceutical industry. This whole concept is based on the interaction of excipients with the API and manufacturing process, and sometimes with other excipients, to produce a formulation of a medicinal product that meets a particular performance specification. 

One of the main drivers for the development of new pulmonary drug delivery systems has been the potential for noninvasive systemic delivery of protein and peptide compounds. The systemic delivery of macromolecules via the airways would overcome the inconvenience and cost associated with current methods of administration (injection), and appears likely given the large surface area of the airways and the thin pulmonary epithelium. Most research has concentrated on pulmonary delivery of insulin for the treatment of diabetes. Recently, one insulin product has completed phase three studies and is now undergoing review by European regulatory agencies for marketing approval. 

Currently, most mature dissolution controlled release systems/ technologies are applicable for water-soluble and low-water-solubility compounds (with low doses). For very poorly water-soluble compounds, dissolution controlled release systems/technologies may not be applicable because these compounds have intrinsically slow dissolution/release rates. Recently, several new technologies such as solid dispersions and self-emulsifying drug delivery systems (SEDDS) have been developed to deliver poorly water-soluble compounds at reasonable doses through enhancement of dissolution rate. These technologies have created new potentials for controlled release of poorly water-soluble compounds, often... 

Recently L. Hovgaard and H. Brpndsted published a critical review in which they stated that polysaccharides appear as promising compounds for use in developing colon-specific drug delivery systems [66],... 

The most recent development (in terms of physicochemical/particle size approaches) in the design of lipid-based delivery systems has been the use of microemulsions, microemulsion preconcentrates, or self-microemulsifying drug delivery systems (SMEDDS), typified by the Sandimmun Neoral formulation. 

Most of the nucleic acid model compound prepared so far are water insoluble however, when the analogs are water soluble, they may not permeate into the hydrophobic cell membranes. Recently, an improved drug delivery system for water soluble drugs using polysaccharide-coated liposomes [68] was developed. 

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