Abstract

Drug delivery is the method or process of administering pharmaceutical compounds to produce a therapeutic effect in humans or animals. Nasal and pulmonary routes of drug administration are becoming increasingly important for the treatment of human disease. These routes represent promising alternatives for parenteral drug delivery, especially for peptide and protein therapeutics. To this end, several drug delivery systems have been formulated and investigated for nasal and pulmonary delivery. These include, but are not limited to liposomes, proliposomes, microspheres, gels, prod rugs, cyclodextrins. Nanoparticles composed of biodegradable polymers have demonstrated the safety of delivering drugs in a prescribed manner and degrading within an acceptable timeframe, meeting the stringent requirements placed on these delivery systems.