Recent Patents on Drug Delivery & Formulation - Volume 2, Issue 2, 2008

The incorporation of small molecular weight active agents into polymeric matrixes bearing controlled release characteristics represents an interesting strategy with numerous useful applications. Antimicrobials, biocides, fungicides or drugs, encapsulated into erodible or non-erodible polymeric micro-spheres, micro-capsules and micro-shells or/and embedded into continuous polymeric matrixes, are controlled release Read More

Local therapy of the oral cavity is used to treat conditions such as gingivitis, oral candidosis, oral lesions, dental caries, xerostoma and oral carcinomas. Delivery systems used include mouthwashes, aerosol sprays, chewing gums, bioadhesive tablets, films, gels and pastes. There are three major problems associated with drug therapy within the oral cavity: rapid elimination of drugs due to the flushing action of saliva o Read More

Solid Lipid Nanoparticles (SLNs) have attracted increasing scientific and commercial attention as colloidal drug carriers during the last decade. They have emerged as a potential alternative compared to other colloidal systems like polymeric nanoparticles, liposomes and fat emulsions, as they have been claimed to combine their advantages but successfully overcome their drawbacks. SLN formulations are extensively develope Read More

The recent success of cyclosporin marketed formulation - Sandimmune Neoral® by Sandoz in Europe has invigorated the gaining interest in microemulsions as potential drug delivery systems. These thermodynamically stable, transparent (or translucent) dispersions of oil and water stabilized by an interfacial film of surfactant molecules have potential applications whenever it is necessary to mix oil and water and wh Read More

Epithelia in multicellular organisms constitute the frontier with the environment. Hence, epithelial cells are specialized in regulating the transit of ions and molecules from and into the organism. Therapeutic agents in order to reach their targets frequently need to cross epithelial sheets. Two routes are available for such purpose: the transcellular and the paracellular pathways. The former is employed by lipophilic drugs and b Read More

Peroral administration of drugs, although most preferred by both clinicians and patients has several disadvantages such as hepatic first pass metabolism and enzymatic degradation within the GI tract, that prohibit oral administration of certain classes of drugs especially peptides and proteins. Consequently, other absorptive mucosae are considered as potential sites for administration of these drugs. Among the variou Read More

Taking advantage of the peculiar features of poly(ethylene glycol), a wide range of applications in the field of drug delivery has been devised. In these last years, a series of patents have been applied on the use of this polymer in delivering of biopolymers, as peptides, proteins and nucleic acid derivatives, as well as of low molecular weight drugs. Moreover, several related strategies have been outlined for the modification Read More

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