Panel Discussion: Topical and transdermal drug delivery: The rise of non-invasive therapies

Panellists in this video:
+ Mr Suresh Pareek, Angel Investor (Pharma) (MODERATOR)
+ Mr Bijayananda Sahoo, Frontier Researcher, R&D – Formulations, Alembic Pharmaceuticals
+ Dr Sumedha Nadkar, Lead – Strategic Scientific Communications, Medrenova
+ Mr Ashok Dewangan, GM – Transdermal, Encube Ethicals
+ Mr Mathivanan Rajagopal, VP, Head – R&D, Axxlent Pharma Science

Key Highlights:
[1] Topical and transdermal drug delivery have immense advantages such as targeting drug to a local site, controlled drug delivery and systemic action

[2] Challenges for topical drug delivery include selecting suitable drug candidates, limited drug loading capacity and skin irritation

[3] For transdermal patches, adherence remains an obstacle. While, for drug delivery involving microneedles, a major hurdle is commercially scaling that product

[4] Regulatory guidelines for topical formulations are not clearly defined. Establishing bioequivalence is one of the most critical regulatory challenges for topical formulations

[5] A less explored area, intra-nasal drug delivery has a lot of potential. Inhalable insulin is one of the promising therapies under this category, while areas still under exploration are direct drug delivery to the brain