Drug Delivery Devices for Inhaled Medicines

Abstract

Historically, the inhaled route has been used for the delivery of locally-acting drugs for the treatment of respiratory conditions, such as asthma, COPD, and airway infections. Targeted delivery of substances to the lungs has some key advantages over systemic administration, including a more rapid onset of action, an increased therapeutic effect, and, depending on the agent inhaled, reduced systemic side effects since the required local concentration in the lungs can be obtained with a lower dose. Fortunately, when designed properly, inhaled drug delivery devices can be very effective and safe for getting active agents directly to their site of action.