Parameters and Strategies to Overcome Barriers to Systemic Delivery

Abstract

In the preceding chapter, the possibilities to couple experiments with computation techniques to characterize and optimize the performance of a drug delivery system have been described. In fact, while it is important to address the problems with the physical properties of a drug delivery system for optimal delivery performance, the impact of the physiological, bio-chemical and chemical barriers within the biological system on the efficiency of systemic drug delivery should not be overlooked, either. Keeping this in mind, in this chapter we will give an overview of the various physiological, chemical and bio-chemical barriers in systemic drug delivery, using oral drug delivery route as an example. We will also discuss the challenges in drug delivery to specific targets such as solid tumors and brain since these targets pose unique barriers that need specific knowledge on to tweak them suitably for enhanced drug delivery and achieve therapeutic benefit for several life-threatening illnesses and incurable disorders. It is hoped that, with more awareness of the various barriers in systemic drug delivery and any issue with the drug property, potential losses of therapeutics in a biological body can be minimized and the efficiency of therapies can be increased at the clinical level.