Biomaterials for Controlled Drug Delivery Applications

A drug delivery system (DDS) is by definition a platform that can transfer a therapeutic agent to the disease site in order to elicit and improve the desired therapeutic response. Currently, the traditional DDSs include tablets, syrups, capsules, creams, ointments, etc. The efficiency of the aforementioned systems is limited by their bioavailability level and their stability at the administration stage, which determines their ability to control the drug’s dosage level and frequency. Researchers and clinicians aimed to overcome the current limitations by exploiting novel biomaterials for controlled drug delivery applications. The new biomaterials exhibit improved bioavailability and the ability to control drug release kinetics in terms of steady and long-term drug release within the therapeutic window, with minimum side effects. This chapter overviews the concept of DDSsDrug delivery systems (DDSs), from understanding its basics up to describing the role of biomaterialsBiomaterials in different drug delivery applications. Initially, the chapter starts by introducing the fundamentals of drug delivery systemsDrug delivery systems (DDSs) including classificationClassifications of drugs based on drug delivery systemsDrug delivery systems (DDSs), why there is a need of controlled drug deliveryDrug delivery, different routes of drug administration, pharmacokineticsPharmacokinetics of drug delivery systemsDrug delivery systems (DDSs), and different release kinetics of drugs. These discussions provide a brief understanding for a particular type of drug and disease model which type of biomaterialsBiomaterials should be designed. Whereas in the second part of the review, we have focused on the design considerations for controlled drug delivery systemsDrug delivery systems (DDSs), role of biomaterialsBiomaterials for controlled drug delivery applications, and different biomaterialsBiomaterials for drug delivery applications.