[Evaluation of retard drug forms with special reference to their therapeutic aspects]

The useful development and application of controlled-release dosage forms is an important possibility to improve the pharmacotherapy of many diseases. However, according to the present social conditions of reproduction the introduction of a new drug has to be directed not only to a high therapeutic benefit but also to an increased social efficiency i.e., to an improvement of cost-benefit-relation. In the present study, therefore, the effect of using controlled-release dosage forms on the development of social efficiency is discussed. Basing on a comprehensive estimation of the therapeutic efficiency (therapeutic advantages and disadvantages) of controlled-release dosage forms the criteria of cost and benefit being of importance for a complex evaluation of efficiency are described.