Drug delivery technology compliance

Despite tremendous innovations in the field of drug delivery technology, oral intake remains the preferred route of drug administration, for reasons of patient convenience and therapy compliance. Compounds intended for oral administration must have adequate biopharmaceutical properties in order to achieve therapeutic concentrations at the targeted site of action. 

Controlled drug delivery technology represents one of the most rapidly advancing areas of science. Such delivery systems offer numerous advantages over conventional dosage forms, including improved efficacy, reduced toxicity, improved patient compliance, and convenience. Therefore, all controlled release systems aim to improve the effectiveness of drug therapy and can be achieved via temporal and/or distribution control of dmg release. 

DirectHaler The DirectHaler (Direct-Haler A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark) nasal delivery device takes advantage of the nasal anatomy and an innovation in device technology in order to improve nasal drug delivery and patient compliance. Similar... 

Thirty years on from the explosion of commercially successful applications of targeted and controlled release pharmaceutical formulations, it is evident that there remains a need for further refinements and innovations in the field of drug delivery. Many of the larger corporations focus on the use of novel technology for extension of a product life cycle however, in many cases solubility and permeability issues limit the application of such technologies. Additional complications arise due to inter- and intrasubject variability, compliance, and chronobiological variation in disease incidence. 

P2"Agonists are widely used in the symptomatic treatment of asthma. Although both oral and aerosol formulations of these bronchodilators have been available for many years, advances have occurred in deUvery technology with the development of dry powder aerosols (qv) (see Drug delivery systems) (28). The ease of usage of these breath-activated systems has improved patient compliance and therapeutic response. There are several detailed reviews on p2-agonist therapy of bronchial asthma (29—31), and on the stmcture-activity relationships of this class of drugs (32). 

M, whose experience in adhesive technology has been put to use in the transdermal field, has similarly built on its adhesive expertise in the development of a proprietary mucosal patch formulation (Cydot), which has demonstrated considerable potential for oral transmucosal delivery. The pill-sized patch uses a new bioadhesive which sticks to the gum, the cheek or the lip without causing irritation and is designed to deliver drugs for short and extended periods (up to 24 h). The small size, 0.5 to 3 cm2, helps patient compliance significantly. 

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