Revolutionary drug technologies are looking to take the pain and
hassle out of the way we medicate — by replacing insulin injections
with breathable insulin, vaccines with skin patches, and tablets with
mildtasting wafers or granules.
At yesterday's 18th Singapore Pharmacy Congress, visiting professor at
the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Department of Pharmacy,
Professor Hans Junginger talked about the move towards more convenient
and efficient methods of drug delivery.
An example is Clarosip, a plastic drinking straw filled with the
antibiotic clarithromycin.
Launched in November last year by German company Grunenthal, the straw
contains a precise dose of the medication in the form of tasteless
granules.
All you do is sip a favourite drink with the straw, which releases the
antibiotic. No more frustration swallowing tablets or coaxing stubborn
children when it is medicine-taking time.
Said Prof Junginger: "There are elderly people who are unable to
swallow; not all drugs dissolve easily in water. With this new
technology, controlled release of granules which can be simply drunk
will be of great advantage for the patient."
Taking the sting out of injections are technologies like the inhalent
insulin Exubera, which will potentially do away with the 20,000
insulin injections a diabetic undergoes in 10 years.
Insulin powder is released in a small inhaler, and a few deep breaths
allow the fine powder to be absorbed quickly into the bloodstream.
Micro-needle and patch technology designed to allow drugs to permeate
via the skin could also make vaccines painless and trauma-free. Some
of these innovations are already being marketed.
In two or three years, wafers incorporated with medicine — just like
breath-freshening strips in the market now — could also be available,
said Dr Junginger.
While none of these are available in Singapore yet, head of the
Department of Pharmacy at NUS, Professor Chan Sui Yang, said that we
could see more of these technologies in the future.
"We already have the medicine. It is just that some of them may not be
in the optimal form. All we need to do is add some engineering to
achieve better outcomes," she said.
For her and many other pharmacists, improving current drug delivery
systems is important to achieve better patient compliance and, more
importantly, to cater to an ageing population.
Said Prof Chan's colleague Assistant Professor Giorgia Pastorin: "It
is helpful for the elderly. My grandmother always tells me that she is
unable to swallow her pills or finds it hard to count them.
"With this technology, she can take her medicine properly without
mistakes. It will be very empowering for her that she can take her
pill in the proper manner."
Labels: No Prescription, Online Pharmacy, Prescription Drugs
# posted by Network @ 10:14 PM
