ABSTRACT

Today we enjoy the benefits of an expanding and increasingly sophisticated range of treatments for illnesses and diseases. A significant part of the advance in medical science has been the successful development of a wide range of medicines, a revolution in therapy. This revolution began slowly with, for example, Paul Erhlich’s work that led to the discovery of the arsenical, neosalvarsan, for the treatment of syphilis. The revolution continued through the 1930s with the discovery of the sulfonamides and penicillin, and on to today’s ever-widening range of medicinal products to treat a wide range of clinical conditions. The development of new treatments for an expanding group of diseases and conditions continues. But patients are not interested in the drug substance; they want a product they can use to make them better, or alleviate their symptoms, and thereby allow them an enhanced quality of life. Excipients help transform a drug substance [active pharmaceutical ingredient (API)] into a medicine; a form of the drug that can be administered to or taken by the patient, and that is acceptable to them.