Route of Administration

Different diseases require different drugs to be selected for treatment, and the routes of administration of different drugs are also different. BOC Sciences has successfully provided the development of many drug formulations to help customers find the appropriate route of administration.

Drug formulation typically involves combining inert substances and excipients with active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to produce a viable drug product with desired properties. Improvements associated with optimized drug formulation development can include enhanced efficacy, reduced side effects, extended stability and shelf life of APIs, and enhanced patient compliance. Drug preparations are closely related to pharmaceutical dosage forms and drug delivery systems. Different routes of administration can directly affect the degree and speed of drug absorption. Oral administration is the most common route of administration due to its ease of administration in a nonclinical setting and high patient compliance.

In the process of drug formulation development, it is of great significance to choose the appropriate drug dosage form and route of administration. BOC Sciences' professional team with rich experience helps customers understand the expected route of administration, choose the appropriate API, drug dosage form and route of administration.

Examples of routes of administration

• Oral administration

Oral administration is a long-term administration route for clinical administration, especially long-term administration. The low oral bioavailability of drugs not only leads to inter-individual and intra-individual differences and large fluctuations in blood drug concentration, but also increases production costs and increases the possibility of toxicity in the body. The main factors affecting the bioavailability of oral drugs are the physical and chemical properties of the drug, the stability of the drug in the gastrointestinal tract, the absorption of the drug through the intestinal mucosa, the metabolism of the drug in the intestinal wall, and the transport of the export-oriented carrier. During the drug development process, a large number of drug candidates fail due to poor biopharmaceutical properties. BOC Sciences can improve the oral bioavailability of drugs through various formulation methods.

• Injection administration

Injection administration refers to the injection of sterile medicinal liquid or biological agents into tissues, blood vessels, and body cavities to achieve the purpose of prevention, treatment, diagnosis, maintenance of normal physiological functions, and relief of pain and discomfort. Routes of administration by injection include intravenous (IV), intramuscular (IM), intradermal (IC or ID) and subcutaneous (SC), injections at other sites (e.g. intraarterial (IA), intraperitoneal (IP), intrathecal injection). Injection administration has the advantages of short absorption route, few influencing factors and high bioavailability. However, key important parameters such as water solubility and human clearance rate still need to be understood and optimized in the drug development process. BOC Sciences can predict these parameters for drug design by means of deep learning, DMPK modeling and simulation.

• Inhalation

Inhalation enables effective lung targeting, often resulting in better therapeutic outcomes, and requires less drug than oral or parenteral administration. Inhalation has a rapid onset of action, similar to that of intravenous injection, and faster than oral or subcutaneous injection. The use of inhalation instead of oral administration can avoid problems such as poor solubility, low bioavailability, gastrointestinal irritation, and unnecessary metabolism. BOC Sciences scientists have extensive expertise in inhaled drug design to help clients successfully advance clinical trials.

• Other routes of administration

There may be specific reasons for choosing another route of administration. Other routes of administration include nasal administration, topical skin administration, topical ophthalmic administration, transdermal administration, and the like. The scientific team at BOC Sciences has experience in drug design according to different routes of administration.