Transdermal patches: not just for control freaks?

摘要

The history of transdermal drug delivery (TDD) has ancient roots in the Chinese traditional of herbal and medicinal plasters applied to the skin for systemic as well as local therapies. The first modern TDD system, defined here as a product of scientific design, controlled clinical trials and a regulatory approval process, was Transderm-Scop developed by Alza for Ciba-Geigy in 1981 to combat motion sickness with a steady dose of scopalamine. Major applications quickly followed including nitroglycerine for treatment of angina pectoris, clonidine for hypertension and estradiol for post-menopausal indications. However, it was the development in 1991 of nicotine patches for smoking cessation which introduced transdermal delivery to a mass market and established it as a familiar dosage form.