Ultra-Long-Acting Drug Delivery Formulations

The emergence of novel infectious pathogens and the growing burden of drug-resistant infections underscore the need for new treatments. However, the discovery and development of new safely administered drugs with acceptable pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic profiles are both costly and time-dependent. Knowing inherent drug development risks underlies the protracted time required in drug development. Years between discovery to broad usage is common prior to any new therapy comes available to humans at risk for acquisition or disease. Therefore, extended-action medicines combined with novel drug delivery strategies are timely. Both are increasingly being researched to speed up drug discovery and development challenges. This chapter focuses on one component of drug development which is prodrugs. Such drug development strategies can be used to improve drug-like properties of potent parent compounds with poor Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Elimination, and Toxicity (ADMET) profiles, thereby reducing costs and drug development timelines.