Advancing Long-Acting Formulations for Treating Chronic Diseases

The challenge of poor medication adherence in the management of chronic diseases remains a pivotal issue, contributing significantly to the disparity between real-world effectiveness and clinical trial outcomes. Conventional strategies aimed at improving adherence through patient education and empowerment have often proven intricate and largely inefficacious. In contrast, long-acting (LA) medicines represent a transformative approach to overcoming the adherence barrier. LA formulations offer simplified dosing regimens, reduced treatment burdens, heightened patient acceptability, and broader public health benefits. This chapter focuses on currently approved LA medicines and their global utilization in the management of chronic conditions such as psychosis, contraception, chronic ocular diseases, and HIV-1 infection. Notably, LA medicines have demonstrated a positive impact on patient acceptability and adherence rates across diverse disease categories. Furthermore, this chapter sheds light on the underexplored potential of LA medicines in addressing other chronic ailments such as osteoporosis, viral hepatitis, and various chronic viral infections, as well as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Emphasizing the importance of cost-effective, self-administrable, discreet, and reversible LA medicines with improved pharmacokinetics featuring a shorter PK tail, we highlight the potential for these innovations to significantly enhance the global adoption and application of LA medicines.