Chapter 1 - Oral drug delivery: Overview

Abstract

Nanotechnology has been an ever-growing field with a revolutionary impact in all the specializations of drug delivery, including the oral administration of therapeutics. Oral drug delivery is by far the most convenient and preferred route of administration as it allows for a painless, self-administration of the dosage forms, thus having the highest patient compliance. In light of the significant preclinical research progress achieved over the past decades regarding the development and characterization of nanotechnology-based oral drug delivery systems, this book discusses the current challenges of oral drug delivery, the different physicochemical barriers faced by orally administered drugs, and the strategies to improve their intestinal permeability. The most promising and up-to-date engineered and surface functionalized drug carrier systems for oral drug delivery are broadly reviewed, together with the importance of controlling their physicochemical properties and drug release profiles. A variety of fabrication methods and characterization techniques are also reviewed. Advances in both in vitro and in vivo models as tools to validate their therapeutic success are also discussed, focusing on the interactions at the biological-material interface. Finally, the importance of the industry on the development of nanotechnology-based oral drug formulations in terms of manufacturing and commercialization is also reviewed.