ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION The three important parameters on which the selection of the most suitable drug delivery system is based are the drug, the disease state, and the latter’s location in the body. Currently, small-molecule drugs continue to dominate the pharmaceutical market despite biotech drugs making a distinct niche for themselves, because the former enjoys the advantages of small molecular size, solubility, and permeability, which are favorable for passive membrane diffusion. However, the perspective of a drug as a chemical compound used for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of a disease state has changed drastically over the past couple of decades as we learn that the mode of delivery of a drug could radically change the therapeutic outcomes of a disease state. For instance, the entrapment of a molecule in a nanoparticulate system could pave the way for better cellular uptake or drug targeting to specific tissues for those drugs with poor bioavailability, in addition to providing prolonged drug release effects.
