Re-engineering the early development process for pulmonary drug-delivery products

摘要

Pulmonary drug delivery offers a number of advantages as a route of administration for the treatment of local and systemic disease. It is non-invasive, applicable to large and small molecules, bypasses gastrointestinal absorption issues and first-pass metabolism and enables a rapid onset of action via portable, patient-friendly devices [1]. In the treatment of respiratory disease, the pulmonary route allows the delivery of high drug concentrations directly to the disease site, which in turn minimizes the risk of systemic side effects and has the potential to provide a superior therapeutic effect at a fraction of the systemic dose.