Soft condensed matter in pharmaceutical design

Abstract

In recent years pharmaceutical design has been facing the needs expressed by new therapeutic methodologies such as gene therapy, targeted delivery and closely related diagnostic fields as contrast enhancing agents for ultrasonic investigations. In this context pharmaceutical research has diversified the efforts toward a more integrated approach where the efficacy of an active molecule is enhanced and assisted by the surrounding carrier. Usually this drug platform is a hydrogel matrix, a multicomponent system constituted by an aqueous solution and a polymeric moiety imparting different functions to the matrix, as responsiveness to external stimuli, affinity to receptors, controlled drug relea..