NDDS Scenario in India: Vital Role of Pharma Professionals

By - 08/14/2007

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Kamal Dua

Kamal Dua

Development of Newer Drug Delivery Systems (NDDS) has emerged as a significant arena of pharmaceutical research.

Only one-third of the Indians have access to modern medicine, although when the cost of the drugs is lowest in the world. After the signing of GATT, process and product patent most of the pharmaceutical industries are paying attention towards reorientation to NDDS in comparison to development of new chemical entities, which involves huge investment and risk. Also in Indian context a large number of diseases are still prevailing which needs a long term and controlled medication therapy and hence there is an immense need to develop safe and effective drug delivery system for such diseases.

In the present scenario India is progressing remarkably in DDS focusing massively at R & D activities and consequently various newer and controlled DDS like Transdermal, ocular, aquasomes, ethosomes, liposomes, resealed erythrocytes, implants etc. have been developed. These are having large number of advantages over conventional dosage forms like controlled and predictable release, lesser chances of dose dumping, reduction in frequency of administration, minimization of side effects, etc.

In the future with the involvement of pharma industries and R & D’s the rising sun of the novel drug delivery systems will definitely achieve its peak heights with the newer concepts and methodologies of DDS. The technological advancement and heavy expenditure on R & D’s activities by the pharma industries in India will definitely expedite the efforts in this direction.

Introduction:

Now a days development of Novel Drug Delivery Systems (N.D.D.S.) has become part and parcel of pharmaceutical research. It is now an unavoidable requirement being experienced by the pharmaceutical industries as well as the academicians particularly in content of Indian scenario. The readers may feel a sense of slide exaggeration in this statement but the reality is that the phobia of proposed GATT agreement, huge investment on search of newer drug entities and the obvious ease and comfort involved in the development of NDDS have prompted the Indian pharma industry to reorient its effort for NDDS research and thereby comparatively paying less attention to conventional dosage forms.

One indispensable component which has been generally ignored and neglected by the Indian pharma industry, by the academicians and by the society as well pharma professionals is the people from hospital, research and marketing arena who may play a crucial and pivotal role in expending the scope of NDDS in India particularly after its development.

The present article is an attempt to emphasis that the well wishers of pharma world should realize that mere development of NDDS is not going to serve the purpose until or unless its benefits can be exploited and recognized by the ultimate targets i.e. the patients otherwise the intellectuality, investment and the time spent on NDDS research will remain as the white elephant. The pharma professionals may be utilized as a link between industry, physician and patients to attain the goal.

NDDS : Post Development Scenario in India

If we talk particularly majority of the recently developed NDDS have not been able to make room for physicians as well as patients point of view. It is a bitter truth which we have to accept that we the pharma professionals have been miserably failed to fully exploit the benefits and merits of such drug delivery systems and to convince the physicians and patients to use them. Even in some cases we have not been able to provide relevant and up to date information to the concern one in an effective way. Here one point is to be kept in mind that mere providing literature along with the furnished product is not going to serve the purpose.

It becomes a serous matter of concern when we take India into consideration where on an average more than 60% of population is still illiterate and residing in rural areas. It does not mean that we should slow down the pace of research work but the need of the hour is that should benefit over society to its maximum at the same time such research work should break the boundaries of a laboratory. It is not justify on the part of pharma industry also just to restrict its target up to launching of the product in the market. We should not forget that our ultimate targets are physicians and patients.

What More is to be Done?

The authors realize that there is an utmost need to bridge the gap between the development of NDDS and the prescription of such drug delivery systems by the physicians. The pharma professional has to shoulder the responsibilities to accomplish this task. He may act as a vital link to pass on relevant and essential information/knowledge about DDS to the physicians in such an effective way that the physicians are left with no choice except prescribing the same DDS to the patients. This may not be applicable to each and every NDDS but the practice should be exercised wherever it is possible. Pharma literature designers, product executives and marketing professional may play a significant role in this regard. More emphasis should be given on the preparation of inserts, leaflets, pamphlets which should contain well explained pictograms along with the complete details regarding the mode of administration. On the other hand the physicians and the chemist should also bear the responsibility to make the patients understand, familiar and updated with an NDDS.

More over academicians may supplement the mission by extending their in depth knowledge and experience on the concerned field to the industry people as well as to the research scholars. The expected and possible contribution of pharma professionals in this regard and its correlation with the physician and the patient may be summarized as Figure-1. In the future with the involvement of pharma industries and R & D’s the rising sun of the novel drug delivery systems will definitely achieve its peak heights with the newer concepts and methodologies of DDS. The technological advancement and heavy expenditure on R & D’s activities by the pharma industries in India will definitely expedite the efforts in this direction.

Conclusions:

Research related to the development of NDDS is now a days is highly preferred and facilitating field of pharmaceutical world. It has crossed the infancy period and now touching height of growths from the pharmacy point of view. Pharma industry is investing huge amount of man power, capital and time on this research areas. It is the responsibility of the pharma professionals from various fields like industry, academics, hospitals, marketing etc. to make the growth curve touching its peak height

Hierarchical flow of NDDS Information