Biological pharmaceutical products are becoming increasingly utilized in the clinic, setting off corresponding changes in the development of drug delivery technologies, according to a new paper from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.
The review, written by Aaron Anselmo, Ph.D., and collaborators, was published in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery on Nov. 30. Anselmo is an assistant professor in the School’s Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics.
His paper, “Non-Invasive Delivery Strategies for Biologics,” assesses the academic and industry efforts to develop new delivery strategies for biologics. Biologics represent the cutting edge of biomedical research, and have a much broader range of potential applications than conventional chemically synthesized drugs.
Given the increasing research dedicated toward developing biologics, there is a tremendous research and development interest in developing less-invasive or non-invasive routes for biologic delivery, Anselmo said — including subcutaneous, transdermal, oral, inhalation, nasal and buccal routes.
“This shifting landscape towards biologics is initiating a separate shift in the development of drug delivery technologies,” Anselmo said. “Biologics require different delivery considerations than previously market-dominating synthetic molecules.”
Doses of biologics can span nearly an order of magnitude, Anselmo said, calling for versatile new delivery technologies that are amenable to different volumes and preparations of biologics.
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery is a peer-reviewed monthly journal with a 2017 five-year impact factor of 54.490.
Find the Paper
Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/nrd.2018.183
DOI: 10.1038/nrd.2018.183