ABSTRACT
Target oriented drug delivery systems are the areas of the major interest in the modern pharmaceutical research. The selective drug delivery to the
target tissues increases the therapeutic efficacy of the drug and reduces its undesirable effect to non target tissues.The concept of drug targeting or
site specific drug delivery was introduced first time by Paul Elrich in 1909, when he reported ‘magic bullet’ to deliver a drug to the desired site of
action without affecting the non target organs or tissues (Juliano, 1980) by associating the drug with a pharmacologically “inactive carrier” capable
of conveying the drug selectively towards its target cells. Drug targeting is defined as the ability to direct a therapeutic agent specifically to the
desired site of action with little or no interaction with non target tissues (Bremier, 1987)
The main goal of a site specific drug delivery system is not only to increase the selectivity and drug therapeutic index, but also to reduce the toxicity
of the drug. (Widder et al., 1982).
Keyword: Magic bullet, Niosomes, Inactive carrier, Drug therapeutic index.