Skip to content

Stop taking pills for some medications – find out which ones don’t require them!



The Future of Medication Delivery: Oral Films and Patches

The Future of Medication Delivery: Oral Films and Patches

Introduction

In the realm of medication delivery, swallowing pills has long been the standard method. However, advancements in technology have paved the way for more efficient, convenient, and innovative ways to administer medications. Researchers are exploring the use of oral films and patches that promise faster action, fewer side effects, and enhanced patient convenience.

Advantages of Buccal Films and Patches

1. Buccal films and patches deliver drugs through the inner lining of the cheek, offering several benefits over traditional oral medications.

2. Films dissolve quickly, while patches stay on and must be removed, catering to diverse patient needs.

3. The film can be taken without water, providing on-the-go convenience, while the patch offers discreet, continuous drug delivery.

4. New innovations in oral patches, like those activated by triggers, are in development, promising personalized medication delivery.

Emerging Technologies and Applications

1. Buccal films are already available for select medications like Suboxone, aiding in opioid dependence treatment.

2. Mouth patches, though still in research stages, hold promise for various conditions from hypertension to insomnia.

3. Cutting-edge developments include trigger-activated patches for precise drug release, exemplified by the insulin buccal patch prototype.

Unique Benefits of Oral Films and Patches

1. By bypassing the GI tract and liver, buccal administration ensures faster drug absorption and onset of action.

2. These methods prevent drug breakdown, leading to higher drug concentrations in the body and potentially fewer side effects.

3. Sublingual film applications, like calming agitation or treating erectile dysfunction rapidly, highlight the versatility of these delivery modes.

Insights and Potential Impact

In the expanding landscape of alternative drug delivery methods, oral films and patches offer a promising future. Their ability to enhance drug efficacy, reduce side effects, and improve patient adherence signifies a shift towards personalized healthcare. As these technologies evolve, they hold the potential to revolutionize medication administration across various medical conditions, benefitting a wide range of patients.

Summary

The evolution of medication delivery through oral films and patches represents a significant advancement in healthcare. Not only do these methods promise faster, more effective drug delivery, but they also address patient preferences and improve treatment outcomes. As research continues and new innovations emerge, the future of medication administration is set to be increasingly tailored, efficient, and patient-centric.


—————————————————-

Article Link
UK Artful Impressions Premiere Etsy Store
Sponsored Content View
90’s Rock Band Review View
Ted Lasso’s MacBook Guide View
Nature’s Secret to More Energy View
Ancient Recipe for Weight Loss View
MacBook Air i3 vs i5 View
You Need a VPN in 2023 – Liberty Shield View

One of the most common ways to take medication is to swallow a pill. However, young children and people with health problems ranging from Parkinson’s disease to throat cancer may have trouble taking a tablet or capsule. It is necessary to inject other drugs, such as insulin, which can be painful and even cause phobias. To overcome these problems, researchers are developing new ways of administering medications that are easier, more convenient, and could work faster and have fewer side effects than traditional methods.

Two of the most promising technologies, buccal films and buccal patches, deliver drugs through the inner lining of the cheek. The main difference between the two is that films dissolve, while patches stay on and must be removed.

An advantage of the film is that it does not require water, so you can take it anywhere, anytime. One advantage of a patch is that once you put it on, it’s easy to ignore. “It’s extremely thin,” Sabine Szunerits, a chemistry professor at the University of Lille in France, said of the new type of mouth patch she is developing. “You don’t even feel it.”

Buccal films are now available for some medications, including one that carries Suboxonea sublingual film that contains two drugs, buprenorphine and naloxone, and is used to treat opioid dependence by reducing withdrawal symptoms.

But mouth patches are not on the market yet. They are being studied for the administration of medications that treat conditions ranging from hypertension to insomnia. And researchers like Szunerits are working on innovative types of oral patches, such as those that only release drugs when activated.

Some medications, such as insulin, must be taken several times during the day. Instead of having a mouth patch constantly deliver a drug, a trigger could be used for the patch to release the drug when needed.

In the case of the Szunertis insulin buccal patch, whose prototype was described in a study Starting in February, light is the trigger. The idea is that a person could wear the patch all day, and when they need to take insulin, a paddle-like device containing a laser could be placed in their mouth to release the drug. However, so far the device has only been tested on pigs and there is still a long way to go before it is available to the public.

Another thing that oral films are particularly good for is treating mouth infections. A team of Egyptian researchers discovered that an oral film containing propolis (a resinous mixture made by bees) was effective in treating recurrent mouth ulcers. In a small study With 24 participants, they found that the films reduced the size of the ulcers from the second or third day of treatment and disappeared by day 10.

Interestingly, even the films that contained no medication helped relieve pain, functioning more as a barrier method than a simple placebo. Ulcers are painful to the touch and placing the film on top protects them from any food or teeth that could scratch them. “This film acts as a barrier, so it relieves pain, even if it does not contain any active ingredients,” said Mona Arafa, associate professor of pharmacy and pharmaceutical technology at the British University in Egypt and co-author of the study. . Importantly, pain relief lasted longer with the medicated film than with the placebo.

Mouth films and patches offer several advantages over swallowing a pill, said C. Michael White, professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy.

When taking a tablet or capsule, the medication has to pass through the intestines and liver before it can begin circulating throughout the body, White explained. These organs partially break down medications, causing them to lose some, and in some cases almost all, of their potency. And medications can take a while to pass through them, delaying how quickly they can start working.

These new drug delivery methods bypass the gastrointestinal tract and liver. The medication is absorbed under the tongue or through the inner lining of the cheek. This allows for a faster effect and avoids gastrointestinal side effects such as nausea and diarrhea, which are caused by medications passing through the stomach and intestines. They may be particularly useful for treating people with nausea and vomiting who cannot take a pill because they may vomit it again.

It also allows for a higher concentration of the drug in the body because it prevents initial breakdown by the liver.

When you take a pill, the concentration of the medication in your body starts out high and decreases as time passes and it breaks down. This initial increase in drug concentration is the root of many side effects, White said. But a patch can release the drug in the body over a longer period of time, preventing an increase in concentration and potentially some side effects.

A benefit of buccal administration is that it allows for rapid onset of action. The inner lining of the cheek is thin. Blood vessels are close to the surface inside the cheek, so it takes less time for the medication to reach the bloodstream, allowing it to start taking effect sooner, White said.

That quick start could be particularly advantageous when timing matters. A recent one clinical trial used dissolving sublingual films to calm agitation in bipolar patients with great success within 20 minutes, but there are applications that could appeal to larger populations, such as a sublingual delivery for erectile dysfunction from IntelGenx, which develops pharmaceutical films.

Think of movies like Listerine breathing strips, said Horst Zerbe, CEO and founder of IntelGenx. “The difference between Listerine and what we’re doing is that we’re putting medications into the film,” he said.

The erectile dysfunction film contains tadalafil, a drug approved by the FDA for the treatment of erectile dysfunction. Perhaps the biggest benefit of taking tadalafil in film form rather than tablet form is that the drug has a longer duration of action when taken in film form, Zerbe said. According to IntelGenx, it would be the first oral film on the market for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.

Unlike patches, buccal and sublingual films are currently available. They are primarily used to treat pain, including chronic pain and pain caused by cancer, as well as migraines, Zerbe said.

Although not yet available for all medications, these alternative drug delivery methods promise to make taking medications easier as the niche grows. Not only will they benefit children and others who have trouble swallowing, but they will also help medications reach the body faster, with fewer side effects, and perhaps even eliminate the need for insulin injections multiple times a day.

—————————————————-