Drug Delivery Technologies – Emerging Technologies For Better Therapeutic Effects In Humans And Animals

Drug delivery is a technique of delivering the drugs for therapeutic effects in humans or other living organisms, particularly animals. A drug delivery system is described as "a formulation or delivery device that introduces drugs into the body so as to enhance both safety and efficacy of drugs by controlling the rate, time, and location of drug delivery". As therapeutic modalities expanded from small molecules to nucleic acids, peptides, proteins, and antibodies, drug delivery technologies evolved to handle issues arising in the delivery of these complex pharmaceuticals.

Challenges in Drug Delivery Technologies

Drug delivery has significant challenges that determine its efficacy and safety. Some of the main challenges associated with this are:

• Poor bioavailability and solubility affecting drug absorption.
• In vivo stability is an important factor to increase drugs' effectiveness.
• Intestinal absorption that influences the treatment response in the body.
• Prolonged or targeted delivery at the site of action to avoid frequent dosing and have a maximum impact.
• To ensure therapeutic effectiveness while minimizing side effects

Need for New Drug Delivery Technologies

Over time, new generations of therapeutics, ranging from proteins and peptides to monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), nucleic acids, and live cells, expanded the horizons of possible treatments. Yet each advance brings its own set of challenges-for example, instability, especially with proteins and peptides; delivery into intracellular targets, especially with nucleic acids; and viability and expansion requirements for live cells. To fulfill these demands, however, strategies in drug delivery must evolve; therefore, many new technologies have come up in a bid to overcome the hurdles.

Fig 1: Classes of therapeutic and delivery paradigms

Source: Nature Journal

This figure illustrates key challenges in drug delivery and solutions through drug and environmental modifications, along with common delivery systems like microneedles and nanoparticles.

Fig 2: Challenges and the future of drug delivery

Source: American Chemical Society

The above figure outlines the future of drug delivery, emphasizing advancements in targeting efficiency, personalized therapies, and AI-based optimization. It showcases emerging technologies like drug-releasing micro-robots and real-time treatment monitoring for chronic diseases.

Table 1: Conventional drug delivery techniques:

Table 2: Emerging drug delivery techniques:
 

Research and Development in Drug Delivery Technologies:

There are significant R&D investments that come into developing advanced drug delivery systems in human and animals. The efforts here lie in optimizing control over the rate, precision, and site of drug release. For instance, exosome-based drug delivery systems are currently under consideration for their natural biocompatibility and possible means of driving drug delivery across biological barriers. Such drug delivery systems are reportedly promising for cancer treatment (Xiao et al. in 2022). As per a research paper, published in ScienceDirect in 2021, Hydrogel-based delivery techniques hold promise in wound healing applications due to its high-water content and high flexibility. Polymer-based microspheres are now under research for controlled release of drugs in veterinary medicine offering accurate dosing (Lee et al., 2023). Innovations in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have gained momentum lately and have changed the landscape of drug formulation and delivery. According to a research article by Vora et al. in 2023, from the perspective of pharmacokinetic and toxicity prediction, AI-driven approaches,  with the help of advanced machine learning (ML) algorithms promise the ability to replace animal testing largely with modeling. Novel drug delivery systems such as ferritin-based nanocages are under research by King's College London since 2024, releasing multi-strain vaccines and more effective anticancer drug delivery possibilities. These new technologies are being actively pursued to address the prevailing weaknesses and improve therapeutic results in various areas of medicine.

The Evolution and Future of Drug Delivery

Over the past decade, tremendous breakthroughs have been seen in drug delivery technologies. It primarily has been motivated by the importance to make the treatment more effective with lesser side effects. Several new technologies have targeted the deficiencies attributed to poor bioavailability, stability, and targeted delivery and so made it possible to treat complex conditions more effectively. As is the case with drug delivery, further innovation can take place and give opportunities into more personalized medicine where the treatment prescribed should meet the individual needs of patients. Other opportunities arise by the involvement of bioengineering and AI-driven technologies that will enable new pathways in predicting and optimizing drug delivery, thus creating avenues for more precise and effective therapeutic intervention. These innovations will not only make treatments more accessible but also more targeted and efficient, capable of being applied both to human and animal health.

Related reports:

1. Smart Pills Market - https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/smart-pill-technology-market-840.html
2. Injectable Drug Delivery Market - https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/injectable-drug-delivery-market-150.html
3. Medical Device Contract Manufacturing Market - https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/medical-device-contract-manufacturing-market-170622851.html
4. Topical Drug Delivery Market - https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/topical-drug-delivery-market-124871717.html

AUTHOR DETAILS: