ABSTRACT
The pharmaceutical formulation plays an important role in the delivery of a drug to the body. The clinical benefit of a drug molecule can thereby be optimised by delivering the right amount at the right rate to the right site at the right time. For example, extended-release (ER) formulations have been used for a long time to control the rate of absorption and thereby keep drug levels within the therapeutic interval during an entire dosage interval. More examples of biopharmaceutical properties that can be provided by oral formulations are given in Table 7.1. In the future, the pharmaceutical possibilities for improving clinical utility may be extended to include site-specific drug delivery systems that reach systemic targets, such as cancer cells and the central nervous system (CNS), or gene delivery to cell nuclei. Such areas of drug delivery are, however, outside the scope for the present chapter.
