What does drug delivery mean and how does that apply to the Pharmaceutical industry?

Answer 1

(this is the second edit of my first posting... it is still not complete, but I forgot something important and needed to add it)

I wrote a paper on this subject once. If I can find that thing, I will post an update here shortly.

For now, this will not be a complete answer by any means, but I will do the best I can.

One thing I wanted to mention quickly, in case you are doing homework based on the first answers you receive:

Drug delivery is not only how to deliver the medicine, as in, injection vs. pill vs. liquid, etc...

But take for an example... the case regarding a pill that is needed to cure an ailment by targeting bacteria in the small intestines, while not poisoning the person's system by being absorbed in the stomach. (I hope I am remembering this correctly.) Drug delivery research would attempt to determine:

1) the most logical form to administer this medicine in (pill, ingested liquid, injection, skin patch, etc.)

2) how to make the medicine in its active form bypass the stomach

3) how to make the medicine "active" in the small intestines so that it can do its job there

4) how to make sure there are no harmful byproducts to the drug's action, and if there are such byproducts, how to neutralize them or render them harmless to the person who took the medicine

5) how to keep the active ingredient in the pill from breaking down and being useless before it reaches the "right spot" in your body

6) how to mask the taste of the medicine (it was probably someone whose mother gave them straight castor oil as a remedy, who began the entire field of research in taste masking! yowch)

7) how to pack enough medicine into one pill for a helpful dose, without the pill being so large that a person can't swallow it easily (if I recall correctly, calcium is a good example of a substance whose pill is notoriously bulky... so is the prescription potassium which I am required to take daily, huge pill that I wish could be downsized but it has to be bulky if I recall correctly in order to ensure proper release of the medicine in my system over a 24-hour period)

8) (which brings me to the last point I can remember...) if the pill must be extended-released over a 24-hour period... how to ensure that the medicine is released in a proper fractional dosage over the full length of that 24-hour period... so that it does not stop delivering the drug at say, the 21st hour... and so that there is not too small a fraction or too large a fraction of the total medicine being released in the system at once

This is the best I can remember... there is a company in Georgia called Elan Pharmaceuticals which has some helpful information about how they attempt to solve drug delivery problems. You will have to do some digging around on this Web site, but the information is definitely there, and it is good stuff:
http://www.elan.com/

Here is a really good article that may be helpful, and it seems to be in plain English for the most part:
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/7838/7838scit1.html

Here is an article which may prove helpful to you too, though it is a bit technical, I think:
http://blue.butler.edu/~sdas/8034drugdelivery.pdf

I was surprised at how much work goes into making that tiny pill do what it's supposed to... not do what it isn't supposed to do... not break down and be useless before it reaches the target location in your body... not interact with your system in strange ways... stay in your system just the right length of time... and be eliminated in a safe and timely manner.

My research was done for a paper toward my associate degree in Biotechnology. There are probably some simple definitions on biotech Web sites, if what I have given you is overkill. The best simple definition I found for "drug delivery" is here:
http://www.answers.com/topic/drug-delivery
At that site, also do a search on "targeted drug delivery", and do a search on "drug delivery system", for more info on those specifically.

I hope this helps. I will post an update if I can find my old paper. God bless you.

Answer 2

Drug delivery basically means what form will be used to get it into your body.will it be a pill, capsule,injection transdermal patch, liquid, powder, etc.

Answer 3

drugs affect your body and mind, the reason they are called drugs is because they are drugs.

the current pharmaceutical buisness is to make you feel better usually using drugs and without attacking the cause.

Answer 4

It only means how a medicine is introduced into your body. It can be through the mouth like pills and liquids. It can be injected. It can be introduced through your skin, like nicotine patch.