ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on biomaterial-based particulate carriers, starting with issues that are common to all carriers: the needs that drive carrier-mediated therapy, essential carrier requirements and carrier mediated drug targeting. The advantages of biomaterial-based systems are then discussed in terms of the wide choice of raw materials, of utilizing nature’s sites for targeting and of lowered risks for treatment safety. The majority of approved drug formulations as well as those under development, irrespective of dosage form and route of administration, are formulations of free drug. A rather small share of the administered dose reaches the target in active form and remains there for a sufficient time span, to generate the desirable therapeutic responses. The continuous ability to make new synthetic raw materials, in addition to those already available, makes the pool of synthetic raw materials available for the construction of drug carriers practically infinite.
