The Pharmaceutical Materials and Dosage Form Design cluster seeks to provide a scientific basis for the development of better dosage forms. Physicochemical characterisation of new drugs and excipients and the formulation of novel drug delivery systems to achieve optimised bioavailability, drug targeting and therapeutic outcomes are the main objectives of this cluster. Formulations are developed for all the main routes of administration (including oral, nail, pulmonary, parenteral) and a number of proprietary drug delivery platforms have been progressed to the point of commercially availability (such as microparticles, nano-particles and enteric polymer coating systems). There are particular interests in the challenges of developing medicines for paediatric and geriatric patients and in developing personalised dose delivery systems.
