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Recently, various kinds of drug delivery systems have been developed to improve therapeutic efficacy, to reduce side effects, and to provide better patient compliance. Many different ways of administration have been used for the development of the drug delivery systems, including oral, transdermal, nasal, transmucosal, buccal, and pulmonary routes. Among those, transdermal drug delivery system has several advantages such as reduced side effects, better therapeutic efficacy, and reduced dosing frequencies. Transdermal delivery of pharmacologically active agents has been extensively studied for the past 40 years. Despite the strong efforts, currently, only about 40 products are in market on about 20 drug molecules, mainly due to the barrier properties of the stratum corneum. Various approaches to overcome the barrier function of skin through physical and chemical means have been broadly studied. The development of an effective transdermal delivery system is dictated by the unique physicochemical property each drug molecule possesses. Various physical and chemical approaches for transdermal flux enhancement will be discussed.
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