Targeted delivery by topical application

Funded Activity Summary

Drugs are applied to the skin for the treatment of a wide range of conditions including both local (inflammation, pain, eczema, psoriasis) and systemic (angina, nicotine withdrawl, hormone replacement therapy) therapies. Unwanted skin absorption also occurs following exposure to environmental and occupational chemicals, including those applied deliberately to the skin such as insectisides, sunscreens and cosmetics. This study seeks to examine the relationship between the chemical structure of agents, the types of formulations in which they are applied and their penetration into the various layers of the skin and underlying tissues. We intend to further our research into important areas relating to the ability to predict the likely behaviour of a solute which comes into contact with the skin from the aspect of optimising both topical drug delivery systems and risk assessment procedures. We will also be examining techniques of facilitating drug transport through the skin using (i) the knowledge gained of the mechanisms by which vehicles act on the skin, (ii) the synthesis of ester and amide lipophilic prodrugs and (iii) physical techniques such as iontophoresis, whereby small electrical currents are applied to charged drug species on the outside of the skin.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2001

End Date: 01-01-2005

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $815,902.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Medical biochemistry - amino acids and metabolites

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

drug delivery system design | drug targeting | formulation optimisation | skin permeability | skin risk assessment | topical absorption risk assessment | topical drug delivery | transdermal delivery | transdermal kinetics

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