Pharmaceutics is an important aspect in the creation of a new drug. It can be described as the overall process relating to the development of a new chemical entity into an approved therapy which is both safe and effective when it comes to treating or preventing disease. This is a complex process which requires expertise from different arenas including medical, legal, regulatory etc. It has different branches to it including pharmaceutical formulation, pharmaceutical technology, physical pharmacy etc.
As pharmaceutics is a vital process when it comes to drug creation, in some cases, it will take at least ten years for a new drug to complete the pharmaceutics process. Also, 80 percent of new compounds are discontinued during the development process which significantly increases the cost of creating a new drug. This statistics further highlights the importance of pharmaceutics and shows how crucial constant improvement in this space is. Let’s analyze some of the most important researches and developments happening in the pharmaceutics segment and how it can improve patient care.
Biodegradable Polymeric Delivery Systems Research relating to polymeric drug delivery has been going on for a long time now. The search for innovative drug delivery systems is one of the front lines of research in this area. For the last twenty years, the progresses made in polymeric drug delivery systems have been noteworthy. It can be described as a formulation or a device which allows introducing a therapeutic substance into the body. Over the years, the advancement of systems based on natural as well as synthetic polymers has been growing in popularity in the industry. Under the natural segment arginine, chitosan, dextrin etc have been treated for polymeric drug delivery systems. The other includes poly (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate), poly (N-isopropyl acrylamide) s, poly (ethylenimine) s, dendritic polymers etc. Biodegradable as well as bio-reducible polymers is at the frontier of polymeric delivery systems research and combining perspectives from synthetic and biological arenas will open up new possibilities in this domain.
The University Of Iowa College Of Pharmacy is one of the frontrunners when it comes to biodegradable polymeric delivery systems research. The faculty at the institute focuses on different aspects of pharmaceutics including physical pharmacy, and industrial/manufacturing pharmacy to name a few. Study is also done on drug delivery and tissue engineering, drug disposition and dynamics, and physical and applied pharmaceutics. Aside from biodegradable polymeric delivery systems, some of the other areas of their research include Powder compaction properties, Novel drug & gene delivery systems, Drug metabolism, and Drug product design to name a few.
Nanotechnology-driven Targeted Nanomedicine The advancements made in nanocarriers which can target cancer cells will be a game changer in the fight against tumors. As tumors are complex, many therapies against it have limitations. This includes suboptimal therapeutic efficiency as well as extreme side effects. Two of the biggest issues with many conventional therapies used for cancer treatment are their poor pharmacokinetics as well as lack of specific targeting. This results in non-specific distribution which results in systemic toxicity as well. Here is where nanomedicine comes into play as it allows in maintaining balance between efficacy and toxicity.
Nanomedicines are able to do this by specifically accumulating in tumors. As a result of this, nanotheraputics can offer major advantages including improved solubility of chemotherapeutics, and better biodistribution to name a few. In nanotechnology-driven targeted nanomedicine research, the Department of Pharmaceutics of National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) – Ahmedabad is a leading name in India. The institute is constantly working on developing site-specific delivery of therapeutic drugs. The research focuses on diseases like cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s disease to name a few. Apart from nanotechnology-driven targeted nanomedicine research, the institute also researches on RNA Interreference (RNAi) therapy, Photo-chemo-thermal therapy, and Green Synthesis of Nanoparticles among many others.
Osmotic controlled drug delivery systems This is quickly emerging as one of the best drug delivery technologies and it leverages osmotic pressure for the controlled delivery of active agents. Also, the drug release in this method is independent of pH as well as hydrodynamic conditions of the body. This is due to the semi permeable nature of the rate-controlling membrane. The design of deliver orifice used in this system can also be attributed for this. As a result of this, a high degree of in vitro/in vivo correlation can be attained. When compared to other diffusion-based systems, this system enables higher release rates as well. For the Department of Pharmaceutics at Modern College of Pharmacy, Pune, pharmaceutics is a core part of the pharmacy course.
It also requires a thorough understanding of physical chemistry, microbiology, and drug regulatory affairs among many others. They are also teaching in multiple areas of advanced pharmaceutics as well as novel drug systems. Aside from osmotic controlled drug delivery systems, they also conduct research on a myriad of other subjects including Herbal based drug delivery systems, Transdermal drug delivery systems, Carbon nanotubes carrier based drug delivery systems, and Silicon Nanoparticles based drug delivery systems among many others. With technology and knowledge of drug development improving constantly, innovations in pharmaceutics will continue to improve.
This in turn will help in creating better therapies that are more effective both for the treatment and prevention of diseases. That said, team effort is crucial when it comes to determining the success and failure of researches and experimentations happening in the pharmaceutics segment as it is a complex field which requires experts from multiple subjects coming together and using their combined experience for a common goal.
