Biological membranes and barriers

The successful delivery of biologics (polypeptides or polynucleotides) as therapeutic entities requires the delivery system or technology to overcome the biological barriers that such agents will encounter when they are administered in vivo. There are currently many good examples of biologics that have reached the market and are available for prescribing, including peptides, recombinant blood factors, enzymes, hormones, cytokines, vaccines, and antibody-based products. Inevitably future advances in the delivery of biologics will require more specific exploitation of the body’s biology for effective patient therapy. The systemic administration of nonviral gene vectors represents a particular problem that may not be overcome by simply over-engineering the delivery system. The future research into nanomedicines will require integration between physicochemistry, biology and engineering, and is an exciting prospect for all pharmaceutical scientists involved in this area. Each must equip themselves with at least the basics of the contributing disciplines. This chapter served only as a brief outline of the biological nature of membranes and barriers than biologic therapeutic agents.