Bioadhesive-based dosage forms: The next generation

Abstract

Prolonged contact time of a drug with a body tissue, through the use of a bioadhesive polymer, can significantly improve the performance of many drugs. These improvements range from better treatment of local pathologies to improved drug bio-availability and controlled release to enhanced patient compliance. There are abundant examples in the literature over the past 15 years of these improvements using first generation or 'off-the-shelf' bioadhesive polymers. The present mini-review will remind us of the success achieved with these first-generation polymers and focus on proposals for the next-generation polymers and attendant benefits likely to occur with these improved polymeric systems. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmaceutical Association.