Prodrugs: A Novel Approach of Drug Delivery

Abstract

In the last one-decade numbers of review and research, articles have been published on prodrugs. This shows the interest of researchers in prodrugs because of the advantages offered by them over other drug delivery systems. Prodrug design is a method to focus many of the issues that trouble drug discovery and development, such as solidity, virulence, solubility, permeability, and drug targeting. Prodrug design is an effective method for targeting medications by altering their physiochemical, pharmacological, or pharmacokinetic properties. Prodrugs account for about 10% to 14% of all drugs sanctioned worldwide. Prodrugs can be created for a variety of administration methods, including transdermal, oral, intravenous, and more. However, the oral route of administration is the most popular and preferable approach; hence, oral prodrugs are highlighted in this article. Our main objectives are to explain the fundamental ideas behind the prodrug strategy, give a rundown of successfully registered oral prodrugs, and evaluate the therapeutic gains made in contrast to the parent drug. In this review article, we have made an attempt to incorporate all the basic details of prodrugs like Introductions, classification, applications of prodrug design in diverse fields of drug development, and basic functional categories that are amenable to prodrug design are all covered in this article. Using electronic databases such Web of Science, Google Scholar, PubMed, Sci Finder, Reaxys, and Cochrane, a literature search was conducted to locate information.