Nanopaclitaxel therapy: an evidence based review on the battle for next-generation formulation challenges

The poor solubility of paclitaxel (PTX), the most commonly used anticancer drug (Taxol^®), has long hindered the development of successful formulations. In 2005, the launch of Abraxane^®, a human albumin-based preparation of PTX, competed with Taxol^® in the commercial market. The success of Abraxane pushed other generic preparations aside, sparking competition among the global pharmaceutical companies to develop the novel and superior PTX nanotechnology-driven formulations. Unsurprisingly, the success underlying with cancer treatment using nano PTX therapy has now entered into a new era of drug development, patentability, preclinical and clinical evaluation, leading eventually to a significant increase in the regulatory approval of the products. The present article aims to provide recent progress in the development of nano PTX formulations by various pharmaceutical companies for safe and effective drug therapies for patients benefit.