Drug delivery

A nasal spray bottle being demonstrated.

Drug delivery refers to approaches, formulations, manufacturing techniques, storage systems, and technologies involved in transporting a pharmaceutical compound to its target site to achieve a desired therapeutic effect.[1][2] Principles related to drug preparation, route of administration, site-specific targeting, metabolism, and toxicity are used to optimize efficacy and safety, and to improve patient convenience and compliance.[3][4] Drug delivery is aimed at altering a drug's pharmacokinetics and specificity by formulating it with different excipients, drug carriers, and medical devices.[3][5][6] There is additional emphasis on increasing the bioavailability and duration of action of a drug to improve therapeutic outcomes.[7] Some research has also been focused on improving safety for the person administering the medication. For example, several types of microneedle patches have been developed for administering vaccines and other medications to reduce the risk of needlestick injury.[4][8]

Drug delivery is a concept heavily integrated with dosage form and route of administration, the latter sometimes being considered part of the definition.[9] While route of administration is often used interchangeably with drug delivery, the two are separate concepts. Route of administration refers to the path a drug takes to enter the body,[10] whereas drug delivery also encompasses the engineering of delivery systems and can include different dosage forms and devices used to deliver a drug through the same route.[11] Common routes of administration include oral, parenteral (injected), sublingual, topical, transdermal, nasal, ocular, rectal, and vaginal, however, drug delivery is not limited to these routes and there may be several ways to deliver medications through other routes.[12]

Since the approval of the first controlled-release formulation in the 1950s, research into new delivery systems has been progressing, as opposed to new drug development which has been declining.[13][14][15] Several factors may be contributing to this shift in focus. One of the driving factors is the high cost of developing new drugs. A 2013 review found the cost of developing a delivery system was only 10% of the cost of developing a new pharmaceutical.[16] A more recent study found the median cost of bringing a new drug to market was $985 million in 2020, but did not look at the cost of developing drug delivery systems.[17] Other factors that have potentially influenced the increase in drug delivery system development may include the increasing prevalence of both chronic and infectious diseases,[15][18] as well as a general increased understanding of the pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of many drugs.[3]

  1. ^ "Drug Delivery Systems (definition)". www.reference.md. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
  2. ^ Rayaprolu, Bindhu Madhavi; Strawser, Jonathan J.; Anyarambhatla, Gopal (2018-10-03). "Excipients in parenteral formulations: selection considerations and effective utilization with small molecules and biologics". Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy. 44 (10): 1565–1571. doi:10.1080/03639045.2018.1483392. ISSN 0363-9045. PMID 29863908. S2CID 46934375.
  3. ^ a b c Tiwari, Gaurav; Tiwari, Ruchi; Sriwastawa, Birendra; Bhati, L; Pandey, S; Pandey, P; Bannerjee, Saurabh K (2012). "Drug delivery systems: An updated review". International Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation. 2 (1): 2–11. doi:10.4103/2230-973X.96920. ISSN 2230-973X. PMC 3465154. PMID 23071954.
  4. ^ a b Li, Junwei; Zeng, Mingtao; Shan, Hu; Tong, Chunyi (2017-08-23). "Microneedle Patches as Drug and Vaccine Delivery Platform". Current Medicinal Chemistry. 24 (22): 2413–2422. doi:10.2174/0929867324666170526124053. PMID 28552053.
  5. ^ Tekade, Rakesh K., ed. (30 November 2018). Basic fundamentals of drug delivery. Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-817910-9. OCLC 1078149382.
  6. ^ Allen, T. M. (2004-03-19). "Drug Delivery Systems: Entering the Mainstream". Science. 303 (5665): 1818–1822. Bibcode:2004Sci...303.1818A. doi:10.1126/science.1095833. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 15031496. S2CID 39013016.
  7. ^ Singh, Akhand Pratap; Biswas, Arpan; Shukla, Aparna; Maiti, Pralay (2019-08-30). "Targeted therapy in chronic diseases using nanomaterial-based drug delivery vehicles". Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy. 4 (1): 33. doi:10.1038/s41392-019-0068-3. ISSN 2059-3635. PMC 6799838. PMID 31637012.
  8. ^ Kim, Yeu-Chun; Park, Jung-Hwan; Prausnitz, Mark R. (November 2012). "Microneedles for drug and vaccine delivery". Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews. 64 (14): 1547–1568. doi:10.1016/j.addr.2012.04.005. PMC 3419303. PMID 22575858.
  9. ^ Nahler, Gerhard (2017). "D". Dictionary of Pharmaceutical Medicine. Springer, Cham. p. 96. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-50669-2_4. ISBN 978-3-319-50669-2.
  10. ^ "route of administration - definition of route of administration in the Medical dictionary - by the Free Online Medical Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia". 2011-06-12. Archived from the original on 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
  11. ^ Jain, Kewal K. (2020), Jain, Kewal K. (ed.), "An Overview of Drug Delivery Systems", Drug Delivery Systems, Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 2059, New York, NY: Springer New York, pp. 1–54, doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-9798-5_1, ISBN 978-1-4939-9797-8, PMID 31435914, S2CID 201275047, retrieved 2021-04-20
  12. ^ "COMMON ROUTES OF DRUG ADMINISTRATION". media.lanecc.edu. Archived from the original on 2021-10-15. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
  13. ^ Park, Kinam (September 2014). "Controlled drug delivery systems: Past forward and future back". Journal of Controlled Release. 190: 3–8. doi:10.1016/j.jconrel.2014.03.054. PMC 4142099. PMID 24794901.
  14. ^ Scannell, Jack W.; Blanckley, Alex; Boldon, Helen; Warrington, Brian (March 2012). "Diagnosing the decline in pharmaceutical R&D efficiency". Nature Reviews Drug Discovery. 11 (3): 191–200. doi:10.1038/nrd3681. ISSN 1474-1776. PMID 22378269. S2CID 3344476.
  15. ^ a b ltd, Research and Markets. "Pharmaceutical Drug Delivery Market Forecast to 2027 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis by Route of Administration; Application; End User, and Geography". www.researchandmarkets.com. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  16. ^ He, Huining; Liang, Qiuling; Shin, Meong Cheol; Lee, Kyuri; Gong, Junbo; Ye, Junxiao; Liu, Quan; Wang, Jingkang; Yang, Victor (2013-12-01). "Significance and strategies in developing delivery systems for bio-macromolecular drugs". Frontiers of Chemical Science and Engineering. 7 (4): 496–507. doi:10.1007/s11705-013-1362-1. ISSN 2095-0187. S2CID 97347142.
  17. ^ Wouters, Olivier J.; McKee, Martin; Luyten, Jeroen (2020-03-03). "Estimated Research and Development Investment Needed to Bring a New Medicine to Market, 2009-2018". JAMA. 323 (9): 844–853. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.1166. ISSN 0098-7484. PMC 7054832. PMID 32125404.
  18. ^ PricewaterhouseCoopers. "Chronic diseases and conditions are on the rise". PwC. Retrieved 2021-04-25.