Transdermal Drug Delivery System: Current Progress and Prospects for the Future - An Overview

For years, oral administration of drug has been prioritized because of its ease and patient compliance. However, there are some drawbacks which comes with this delivery system out of which the main concern is first pass metabolism which affect the bioavailability of drugs. So, to improve the bioavailability and avoid first pass metabolism intravenous (IV) delivery would be the best option but it is often painful and can’t be used by patient by their own. Transdermal drug delivery systems (TDDS) may overcome these issues by giving the drug via skin but it is challenging because of the startum corneum. Hence to shortout all these issues some investigations are being carried out by the researchers which include vesicle delivery, iontophoresis, electroporation, sonophoresis, and microneedle methods. The ability of these methods to overcome all these problems have been concluded by the various studies. To make them more effective in future some advancements such as lipid polymer hybrid nanoparticles, targeted vesicles (by adhering ligands on vesicle surfaces), microneedles with sensors which regulate the drug flow and also dissolvable microneedles or alter in electrical and ultrasound parameters to minimize the tissue damage, may further enhance their effectiveness.