Excipients with specialized functions for effective drug delivery.

North-West University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Unit for Drug Research and Development, Potchefstroom campus, Potchefstroom, 2520, South Africa. sias.hamman@nwu.ac.za

Expert opinion on drug delivery 2012 Feb

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There is a growing need for the development of pharmaceutical excipients that could improve product performance and overcome the shortcomings of new drug moieties, such as their poor solubility and membrane permeability, as well as to aid with modern manufacturing processes. Different types of functional excipients are discussed in this paper, in terms of their roles in modern dosage forms to optimize drug delivery and manufacturability. Functions of specialized excipients that are covered in this article include the enhancement of drug membrane permeability, the improvement of drug solubility and stability, the regulation of drug release in response to feedback mechanisms and assistance with the production of dosage forms. Modern drug delivery systems rely on sophisticated excipients with multiple functions to improve overall product performance. The excipient market is expected to grow substantially with emerging trends in the development of these advanced drug delivery systems.

Citation

Josias Hamman, Jan Steenekamp. Excipients with specialized functions for effective drug delivery. Expert opinion on drug delivery. 2012 Feb;9(2):219-30