Nanoparticulate drug delivery: Perspectives on the transition from laboratory to market

Nanoparticles offer distinct advantages in pharmaceutical products by protecting the drug, targeting it to the diseased tissue and providing release at the desired rate. Implementation of this strategy in actual products, however, has proved challenging. Nanoparticles must perform several specific tasks in the body: they need to exhibit sufficient encapsulation of the drug, possess requisite material characteristics to release the drug at the desired rate and have a long enough circulation in order to accumulate at the target in necessary quantities. The challenges in designing nanoparticles have given rise to the field of nanomedicine, which seeks to formulate nanoparticles to meet the therapeutic objective. With this book, the authors provide a summary of the past efforts, current status and future directions of nanomedicine. They begin by explaining the design goals of nanoparticles to improve drug solubility and targeting and discuss different types of nanoparticles. Subsequent chapters include a thorough examination of various routes of administration, including oral, transdermal, pulmonary and intravenous.  Latter parts cover nanotoxicology, regulatory aspects in clinical trials and concludes with an overview of case studies about nano-systems in the marketplace.