Drug Delivery Using Nanocarriers: Indian Perspective

Abstract

Drug delivery is the method or process of administering a pharmaceutical compound to achieve a therapeutic effect in humans or animals. Drug delivery technologies are patent protected formulation technologies that modify drug release profile, absorption, distribution and elimination for the benefit of improving product efficacy and safety, as well as patient convenience and compliance. Current efforts in the area of drug delivery include the development of targeted delivery in which the drug is only active in the target area of the body (for example, in cancerous tissues or other diseased tissues) and sustained release formulations in which the drug is released over a period of time in a controlled manner from a formulation. Nanocarrier delivery systems are extensively being investigated as a drug delivery strategy in the pharmaceutical research from the last 3 decades. Nanoparticulate technologies in general offer immense benefits such as solubilization of hydrophobic active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), improvement in bioavailability, improved (or altered) pharmacokinetics of API and protection of API from physical, chemical or biological degradation. As nanocarriers may also exert toxicological effects, nanotoxicology has emerged as a new branch of toxicology for studying undesirable effects of nanocarriers. Therefore, development of novel nanocarriers for therapeutics and diagnostics must proceed in tandem with assessment of any toxicological and environmental side effects of these carriers.