BIOTHERAPEUTICS AS DRUGS, ITS DELIVERY ROUTES AND IMPORTANCE OF NOVEL CARRIERS IN BIOTHERAPEUTICS

Biopharmaceuticals or biologics are the therapeutic agents which are biomolecules (DNA, Protein, Peptide, RNA, antibodies) in nature. These are high molecular weight (300-1000000Da) molecules, which deify Lipinski rules. At present, a large portion of the market share is occupied by protein biotherapeutics. However, peptide-based therapeutics is replacing protein biotherapeutics, as the former has a broad spectrum of action, high activity at low concentration, efficiency, safety, target selectivity, etc. Currently, there are more than 130 proteins and 140 peptide-based therapeutics in the market, and around 500 peptides are in preclinical development. To release the drug at the target site with maximum efficacy and minimum side effects, the selection of a drug delivery route is very important. Some of the drug delivery routes are Oral drug delivery system (DDS), Parenteral DDS, Topical DDS, Pulmonary DDS, Nasal DDS, Brain targeted DDS, Stem cell DDS, Peptide DDS, Self-assembled peptide DDS, Rectal DDS, etc. In comparison to small molecules drug delivery system, there are very few delivery options for the biotherapeutics due to the difference in the physicochemical properties. Currently, some novel carriers like Cubosomes, Phytosomes, Virosomes, Exosomes, etc., are being explored as a potential drug delivery system for biotherapeutics. So- in this review, we describe the characteristics, usage of various novel carriers in the DDS for the delivery of drugs, especially biotherapeutics.