Recent Advances on Nanostructured Materials for Drug Delivery and Release

Nanomedicine has become a hot field of research, as it has the potential for developing several innovations in healthcare and, in particular, new pharmaceutical formulations. The need of innovative ways for drug transportation and delivery has accelerated the advances in the field of nanomaterials for pharmaceutical applications. The ultimate purpose of designing nanomaterials for drug delivery must be to ensure that the drug to be released exerts its pharmacological effect at the lowest possible dose, with the least number of side effects and equal benefits to a high dose. These so-called “nanopharmaceuticals” may possess distinctive features useful to improve the stability of the drugs, extend their systemic half-lives, enhance efficiency, increase bioavailability, and delay clearance. There is no doubt that nanopharmaceuticals are a promising strategy to overcome traditional pharmacokinetic limitations. Researchers around the world have been making important efforts to design and test novel nanoformulations, especially in in vitro and in vivo model studies. Virtually, all routes of drug administration have been investigated at this level. Compared to the high number of nanoformulations that are currently in the discovery and preclinical stages of the development pipeline, there are still very few nanopharmaceuticals in clinical trials and even less already in the market. This current scenario points to the need to accelerate nanomedicine endeavors in order to spur these formulations through the drug discovery pipeline.