ABSTRACT:
The aim of authors in this review is to provide an updated hypothetical and technological outlook on designing a sustainable drug product to meet the patients need. An appropriately designed sustained release (SR) drug delivery system can have major advance towards solving problems concerning the targeting of a drug to specific organ or tissue and controlling the rate of drug delivery to the target tissue. The principal goal of sustained release formulations is to improve the drug therapy assessed by the relationship between advantages and disadvantages of its use. Usually drugs with short biological half life and requiring repeated dosing are formulated into sustained release products. The most important factors to taken into account when selecting the polymers in the formulation of SR products are they should be inert, biodegradable, biocompatible and they should have release retarding property, they may be synthetic or natural origin. Polymer drug ratio, drug or polymer solubility, drug particle size and compression force are important among the formulation factors to be considered in the design of SR products. The authors review on novel and established methods to develop sustained release products. Here updates and basics are presented with special reference to materials, design and development, release mechanism etc. for a researcher to newly imagine working on formulation and development of SR products. A description of drug and polymers physicochemical or biopharmaceutical characteristics, Preparation methods and regulatory considerations is also presented and reviewed in this manuscript.