GLIMPSE ON PROTEIN DRUG DELIVERY: AN UTMOST RESEARCH AREA FOR BIOPHARMACEUTICALS

A major challenge confronting pharmaceutical scientists in the future will be to design successful dosage forms for the next generation of drugs. Many of these drugs will be complex polymers of amino acids (e.g., peptides, proteins), nucleosides (e.g., antisense molecules), carbohydrates (e.g., polysaccharides), or complex lipids. Protein and peptide therapeutics currently represent eight of the top 100 prescription pharmaceuticals in the US, and biotechnology products are projected to account for 15% of the total US Prescription drug market by 2003. Conventional drug formulation has the same focus but, due to the unique structures of peptide and protein molecules, formulation of these compounds is more complex and challenging. Therapeutic peptides and proteins always enjoyed unique place in pharmaceutical biotechnology. Peptides and proteins are expected to mitigate suffering in coming years as anticancer, hormones, analgesic antihypertensive, thrombolytics, growth factors, and many others. This review represents outstanding contributions in the field of biopharmaceuticals.

Author(s): YAGNESH A BHATT AND DUSHYANT A SHAH

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