3D printing of pharmaceutical dosage forms: Recent advances and applications.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing, also referred to as additive manufacturing, is considered to be a game-changing technology in many industries and is also considered to have potential use cases in pharmaceutical manufacturing, especially if individualization is desired. In this review article the authors systematically researched literature published during the last 5 years (2019 - spring 2024) on the topic of 3D printed dosage forms. Besides all kinds of oral dosage forms ranging from tablets and capsules to films, pellets, etc.

Applications of pharmacometrics in drug development.

The last two decades have witnessed profound changes in how advanced computational tools can help leverage tons of data to improve our knowledge, and ultimately reduce cost and increase productivity in drug development. Pharmacometrics has demonstrated its impact through model-informed drug development (MIDD) approaches. It is now an indispensable component throughout the whole continuum of drug discovery, development, regulatory review, and approval.

3D extrusion bioprinting of microbial inks for biomedical applications.

In recent years, the field of 3D bioprinting has witnessed the intriguing development of a new type of bioink known as microbial inks. Bioinks, typically associated with mammalian cells, have been reimagined to involve microbes, enabling many new applications beyond tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. This review presents the latest advancements in microbial inks, including their definition, types, composition, salient characteristics, and biomedical applications.

Monitoring kinetic processes of drugs and metabolites: Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

Monitoring the kinetic changes of drugs and metabolites plays a crucial role in fundamental research, preclinical and clinical application. Raman spectroscopy (RS) is regarded as a fingerprinting technique that can reflect molecular structures but limited in applications due to poor sensitivity. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) significantly amplifies the detection sensitivity by plasmonic substrates, facilitating the identification and quantification of small molecules in biological samples, such as serum, urine, and living cells.

Droplet-based 3D bioprinting for drug delivery and screening.

Recently, the conventional criterion of "one-size-fits-all" is not qualified for each individual patient, requiring precision medicine for enhanced therapeutic effects. Besides, drug screening is a high-cost and time-consuming process which requires innovative approaches to facilitate drug development rate. Benefiting from consistent technical advances in 3D bioprinting techniques, droplet-based 3D bioprinting techniques have been broadly utilized in pharmaceutics due to the noncontact printing mechanism and precise control on the deposition position of droplets.

Visualizing kinetics of diffusional penetration in tissues using OCT-based strain imaging.

We report a new application of the recently developed technique, Optical Coherence Elastography (OCE) to quantitatively visualize kinetics of osmotic strains due to diffusive penetration of various osmotically active solutions into biological tissues. The magnitude of osmotic strains may range from fractions of one per cent to tens per cent. The visualized spatio-tempotal dynamics of the strains reflect the rates of osmotic dehydration and diffusional penetration of the active solute, which can be controlled by concentration of the solution components.

Advancing tumor microenvironment and lymphoid tissue research through 3D bioprinting and biofabrication.

Cancer progression is significantly influenced by the complex interactions within the tumor microenvironment (TME). Immune cells, in particular, play a critical role by infiltrating tumors from the circulation and surrounding lymphoid tissues in an attempt to control their spread. However, they often fail in this task.

Drug delivery using gold nanoparticles.

Modern nanotechnologies provide various possibilities for efficiently delivering drugs to biological targets. This review focuses on using functionalized gold nanoparticles (GNPs) as a drug delivery platform. Owing to their exceptional size and surface characteristics, GNPs are a perfect drug delivery vehicle for targeted and selective distribution.

Biopharmaceutical drug delivery and phototherapy using protein crystals.

Biopharmaceutical drugs, including proteins, peptides, and antibodies, are renowned for their high specificity and efficacy, fundamentally transforming disease treatment paradigms. However, their structural complexity presents challenges for their formulation and delivery. Protein crystals, characterized by high purity, high stability and a porous structure for biopharmaceutical drug encapsulation, providing a potential avenue for formulating and delivering biopharmaceutical drugs.

Seeing through the skin: Optical methods for visualizing transdermal drug delivery with microneedles.

Optical methods play a pivotal role in advancing transdermal drug delivery research, particularly with the emergence of microneedle technology. This review presents a comprehensive analysis of optical methods used in studying transdermal drug delivery facilitated by microneedle technology. Beginning with an introduction to microneedle technology and skin anatomy and optical properties, the review explores the integration of optical methods for enhanced visualization.

Integrated pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic and agent-based modelling in drug development: Current status and future perspectives.

In the past two decades, quantitative mathematical modelling approaches have emerged as a paradigm to improve new drug research productivity, especially the application of pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic and quantitative systems pharmacology modelling. These approaches have largely made use of deterministic, differential equation-based models, however there is a growing use of agent-based models. In this review, the current applications and practices of agent-based model development are reviewed via relevant case studies from the literature.

Integrated modeling of biomarkers, survival and safety in clinical oncology drug development.

Model-based approaches, including population pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modeling, have become an essential component in the clinical phases of oncology drug development. Over the past two decades, models have evolved to describe the temporal dynamics of biomarkers and tumor size, treatment-related adverse events, and their links to survival. Integrated models, defined here as models that incorporate at least two pharmacodynamic/ outcome variables, are applied to answer drug development questions through simulations, e.

Chaotic (bio)printing in the context of drug delivery systems.

Chaotic (bio)printing, an innovative fabrication technique that uses chaotic flows to create highly ordered microstructures within materials, may be transformative for drug delivery systems. This review explores the principles underlying chaotic flows and their application in fabricating complex, multi-material constructs designed for advanced drug delivery and controlled release. Chaotic printing enables the precise layering of different active ingredients-a feature that may greatly facilitate the development of polypills with customizable release profiles.

A systematic overview of strategies for photosensitizer and light delivery in antibacterial photodynamic therapy for lung infections.

Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) emerges as a viable treatment strategy for infections resistant to conventional antibiotics. A complex interplay of factors, including intracellular photosensitizer (PS) accumulation, photochemical reaction type, and oxygen levels, determines the efficacy of aPDT. Recent progress includes the development of modified PSs with enhanced lipophilicity and target-specific strategies to improve bacterial cell wall penetration and targeting.

Strategies to develop polymeric microneedles for controlled drug release.

The remarkable appeal of microneedle controlled-release systems has captivated both the academic community and pharmaceutical industry due to their great potential for achieving spatiotemporally controlled release, coupled with their the minimally invasive nature and ease of application. Over the years, scientists have dedicated their efforts to advancing microneedle systems by manipulating the physicochemical properties of matrix materials, refining microneedle designs, and interfacing with external devices to provide tailored drug release profiles in a spatiotemporally controllable manner. Expanding upon our understanding of drug release mechanisms from polymeric microneedles, which include diffusion, swelling, degradation, triggering, and targeting, there is a growing focus on manipulating the location and rate of drug release through innovative microneedle designs.

Extracellular vesicles versus lipid nanoparticles for the delivery of nucleic acids.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are increasingly investigated for delivering nucleic acid (NA) therapeutics, leveraging their natural role in transporting NA and protein-based cargo in cell-to-cell signaling. Their synthetic counterparts, lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), have been developed over the past decades as NA carriers, culminating in the approval of several marketed formulations such as patisiran/Onpattro® and the mRNA-1273/BNT162 COVID-19 vaccines. The success of LNPs has sparked efforts to develop innovative technologies to target extrahepatic organs, and to deliver novel therapeutic modalities, such as tools for in vivo gene editing.

Delivery and kinetics of immersion optical clearing agents in tissues: Optical imaging from ex vivo to in vivo.

Advanced optical imaging provides a powerful tool for the structural and functional analysis of tissues with high resolution and contrast, but the imaging performance decreases as light propagates deeper into the tissue. Tissue optical clearing technique demonstrates an innovative way to realize deep-tissue imaging and have emerged substantially in the last two decades. Here, we briefly reviewed the basic principles of tissue optical clearing techniques in the view of delivery strategies via either free diffusion or external forces-driven advection, and the commonly-used optical techniques for monitoring kinetics of clearing agents in tissue, as well as their ex vivo to in vivo applications in multiple biomedical research fields.