Discussion Group: Innovations and Improvements in Drug Delivery Systems
New drug delivery systems are increasingly being seen as an alternative or an enhancement to INDs or simply to make existing drugs work more effectively. Novel ideas and principles for drug delivery systems are exciting, but significant advances can also arrive through new materials or new formulations of existing ideas.
Delivery of small molecules is typically by traditional oral formulations such as tablets and capsules. However, the advent of biopharmaceuticals has necessitated a whole new range of DDS for efficacious delivery, to explore other routes of administration or to deliver sensitive biomaterials through the convenient oral route.
It has been a long process for some novel DDS to reach the clinic, e.g. antibodies, liposomes, targeted drugs and radio-nuclides, often due to production, characterisation or regulatory issues. With further experience these issues should become less problematic. As many of these systems are ‘nanomedicines’ the new ‘nano’ buzzwords can bring perceptions of either great medical advances or worries. What is certain is that the advent of nanotechnology is bringing new ideas, new methods of characterisation and new understanding of how nanoscale objects can exploit differences between normal and disease states.
This is a very exciting time for drug delivery systems.