Basics of Compounding: Compounding with Microneedle Arrays, Part 1: Introduction and Overview

Over the years, numerous approaches have been used to increase drug penetration of the skin. Transdermal drug delivery has potential advantages over other conventional routes of drug delivery, as it can provide a non- invasive and painless alternative to parenteral routes. Also, the pharmacokinetic profiles of drugs can be more uniform with less variability, resulting in improved patient compliance. Classical topical formulations are different from those intended for transdermal drug delivery, as they are generally applied to broken, diseased, or damaged skin, whereas, transdermal drugs are applied to healthy skin. On the negative side, the use of transdermal drug delivery is limited by the restrictions inherent in the lipophilic stratum corneum barrier, which allows a limited number of drug molecules with certain physicochemical properties to be delivered. This article, which represents part 1 of a series of articles on compounding with microneedles, provides an introduction and overview of this topic.