| Interest in more advanced drug delivery systems has
increased in line with the acceleration in the discovery
and development of novel therapeutic macromolecules
for targeted applications. Computational fluid dynamics
(CFD) is a design tool that allows designers of these and
other products to evaluate different designs rapidly and
cost-effectively.
The use of CFD within the
pharmaceutical industry has increased
in recent years. Its application to the
development of a new drug offers
significant benefits in terms of yielding
reduced costs, faster time to market, an
improved understanding of existing or
novel innovations, and the knowledge to
make informed decisions to help guide
and shape the direction of future
research efforts.
These benefits are of particular
significance in the search for an
effective delivery system for a new
drug – an issue that has become more
pertinent in light of the recent moves
away from needle- and syringe-based
injection methods.
Traditionally, animal experimentation
has been used to evaluate drug delivery
systems, but the results are not seen as
sufficiently reliable when transposed to
humans, whose respiratory physiology,
for example, can differ greatly. This
often leads to dramatically varying doses
being realised from the same initial
sample, making useful comparisons
problematic.
In addition, an obligation
exists under law to minimise
experimentation on animals, placing
restrictions on the level of testing that
can be conducted. CFD can help
overcome some of these issues, by
allowing for the rapid and economic
analysis of various drug delivery
designs, using a three-dimensional
model of human physiology. |
