In general, there are only a few vaccines administered via mucosal routes, as the mucosal immune system presents numerous hurdles, including diversity in mucosal surface structure, complexity in immune cell interaction and limitations in experimental methodology. This therefore necessitates a range of strategies to be used for each target area. With reference to the three main routes of delivery and associated mucosal surfaces (oral/intestinal, nasal/respiratory and female genital tract), this review examines how coadministration of immune-stimulatory molecules, adjuvants, delivery systems and mucoadhesives are used to improve mucosal vaccine efficacy. Key considerations to the development of next-generation mucosal vaccines include improved efficacy and safety, technological advancements in medical devices to enable convenience and better administration, as well as reduced manufacturing costs.

Due to the increasing problem of drug resistance, new and improved medicines are required. Natural products and biotherapeutics offer a vast resource for new drugs; however, challenges, including the cost and time taken for traditional drug discovery processes and the subsequent lack of investment from the pharmaceutical industry, are associated with these areas. New techniques are producing compounds with appropriate activity at a faster rate. While the formulation of these combined with drug-delivery systems offers a promising approach for expanding the drug developments available to modern medicine. Here, various classes of drug-delivery systems are described and the advantages they bring to small molecule and biotherapeutic targeting are highlighted. This is an attractive approach to the pharmaceutical industry and the rising trend in research in this area is examined in brief. New medicines are constantly being developed or repurposed, aimed at curing or preventing diseases or conditions where therapeutic product availability is lacking, or to reduce side effects, improve quality of life, reduce the burden on the cost of healthcare systems, while significantly extending patients' lives. However, drug discovery, research and development (R&D) can be an extensive process lasting over 7-10 years, with an average cost of $2.6 billion for each successful drug that reaches the market [1]. These substantial cost and time factors originate from the scientific, technical and regulatory challenges that are needed to fully understand the drug mechanisms of action and physiological interactions for complex diseases at molecular level. Achieving viable commercial success subsequently

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract