ABSTRACT
The interrelationship between drug discovery and delivery becomes increasingly important with respect to the rapid development of pharmaceutically efficacious drugs. The preceding chapters in the last part of this book have highlighted the recent developments in gene therapy, drug discovery, genomics and proteomics as a consequence of the recent developments in molecular biology and chemistry. This chapter concludes this text by examining how the advances in chemistry and biology are providing opportunities for more effective site-specific drug targeting and bioresponsive pulsatile drug delivery. The chapter considers the development of prodrug-based technologies for cell-specific drug delivery, provides an overview of the use of smart polymeric systems, microchips and genetically engineered cell-based implants in addressing the challenges of chronopharmacology, and offers a perspective of the future of drug delivery and targeting in this new millennium.
