Nanotechnology; Drug delivery; Nanoparticles; NPs; Polymeric micelles; Dendrimers
Drug delivery is an intriguing field of research that has captured the interest of researchers because delivering a medicine to its site of therapeutic action is one of the main limitations of pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.1 In simple terms, drug delivery can be defined as the process of releasing a bioactive agent at a specific rate and at a specific site but in the current scenario, targeted drug delivery is a bottleneck that must be overcome to exploit thousands of new therapeutics that are limited by a safe and effective drug-delivery system.1 and 2 As current advances in biotechnology and related areas are aiding the discovery and rational design of many new classes of drugs, it is crucial to improve specific drug-delivery methods to turn these new advances into clinical effectiveness. Most of the drugs are limited by their poor solubility, high toxicity, high dosage, aggregation due to poor solubility, nonspecific delivery, in vivo degradation and short circulating half-lives, but at present, the field of drug delivery is developing rapidly as researchers from various disciplines have joined in to help curtail the drugs' ever-increasing problems.1 The field of drug delivery has also attracted the attention of the pharmaceutical industry because it offers a strategic tool to expand current drug markets; new delivery technologies could repackage classic drugs, thus offering a competitive edge after the expiration of patents and preclude competition from generics. Targeted drug-delivery systems can convey drugs more effectively and conveniently than those of the past, increase patient compliance, extend the product life cycle, provide product differentiation and reduce healthcare costs.3 In addition, novel drug-delivery systems would offer protection and improve the pharmacokinetics of easily degradable peptides and proteins that often have short half-lives in vivo.4 and 5 Therefore, the development of techniques that could selectively deliver drugs to the pathological sites is currently one of the most important areas of drug research. The emergence of nanotechnology is likely to have a significant impact on the drug-delivery sector and nanoparticles (NPs) are at the leading edge, with many potential applications in clinical medicine and research.6 NPs can be correctly envisioned as the future of drug-delivery technology as they have the potential to become useful therapeutic and diagnostic tools in the near future. This review provides an overview of various different nanoparticulate systems that can be used as potential drug-delivery systems to shorten the gap between drug discovery and drug delivery. It also focuses on the potential applications of NPs for efficient drug delivery.