Lipid-Based Systems for Delivery of Biological Macromolecules

Lipid-based drug delivery systems (LBDDS) are one of the most promising delivery systems for several drugs with poor solubility and bioavailability after administration through oral route and other routes of administration. A variety of drug candidates seek lipid based delivery owing to increased solubility and other benefits as discussed drug-wise in this chapter elsewhere. It is noteworthy that lipid based drug delivery is considered as innovative and acceptable strategy as compared to polymeric nanoparticles in terms of highest drug loading, easy to scale-up on commercial scale in industries, being biocompatible and free from organic solvent in the finished product. Recently, several biological macromolecules are delivered successfully in lipid based formulations to protect them from intestinal enzymatic degradation, to improve solubility, to enhance bioavailability and to commercialize easily. In this chapter, we focused delivery of several therapeutic biological macromolecules which are facing problems in the formulation designing with enhanced efficacy and in vivo performance. These systems consist of diverse group of formulations, each consisting of varying functional and structural properties that are amenable to modifications achieved by varying the composition of lipid excipients and other additives. These systems are basically solid lipid particulate dosage forms, nanoemulsion, nanostructured lipid carrier, and vesicular systems. Thus, this chapter conclusively gives the advances in LBDDS for diverse biological macromolecules. Moreover, the present article would also provide a brief account of the patent instances filed/approved in this domain for providing an updated account of the concept.