Drug Formulation Design

Beclomethasone and Betamethasone

Beclomethasone and betamethasone are two very closely related glucocorticoid immunosuppressants with identical structures, except in betamethasone, the heteroatom substituent on the steroidal backbone is fluorine 12 , while in beclomethasone, the heteroatom substituent is chlorine 13 . The chemical structures of beclomethasone and betamethasone dipropionate are depicted in Figure 1. Frequently, these two drugs are administered as salt forms dipropionate, sodium phosphate due to their low...

Exubera System

Exubera is the first Food and Drug Administration approved inhaled insulin product. It is approved for the treatment of adult patients with T1DM and T2DM 22 . Exubera is currently available in a short acting formulation to control post prandial glucose excursions. In patients with T1DM, Exubera should be used in combination with long acting insulin, which provides basal insulin replacement. In patients with T2DM, Exubera can be used either as monotherapy or in combination with long acting...

Factors Affecting Nasal Absorption

A combination of the structure and function of the nasal mucosa as a barrier to absorption, the properties of the active drug and the formulation within which it is contained will affect the extent to which a compound is absorbed nasally. The following factors are commonly reported as significantly influencing the extent of nasal absorption. Generally, drugs which are in solution will be rapidly absorbed nasally (31), although it appears that hydrophilic compounds are not readily absorbed above...

Non Invasive CNS Drug Delivery

Compound lipophilicity is a fundamental physicochemical property that plays a pivotal role in the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) of therapeutic agents. A parabolic relationship often exists between measured lipophilicity and in vivo brain penetration of drugs, where those moderate in lipophilicity often exhibit highest uptake (45). One Table 2 General Approaches to Enhance CNS Drug Delivery Table 2 General Approaches to Enhance CNS Drug Delivery Transdermal drug...

Chemotherapy

Since cancer cells divide more rapidly than normal cells, traditional chemotherapy involves treating patients with cytotoxic compounds designed to kill growing cells. The general approach of all chemotherapy is to decrease the growth rate (cell division) of the cancer cell. These medications target various phases of the cell cycle (Fig. 1), resulting in one of the following effects damaging cellular DNA, inhibiting DNA synthesis, or stopping mitosis (splitting of the original cell into two new...