Enhancement of bioavailability of therapeutics using drug conjugation approach: an in-depth review

Abstract

Recently, for the enhancement of the therapeutic qualities of peptides, proteins, small molecules, antibodies, or oligonucleotides, the conjugation technique has immerged as a new domain in drug delivery systems. Conjugated medications have a longer half-life, greater stability, fewer side effects, enhanced solubility, reduced immunogenicity, and a specific targeting approach. The present review discusses various conjugation methods, comparing cleavable and non-cleavable linkers and current advancements in linker technology. It focuses on the molecular characteristics of each component of drug conjugations and linker chemistry techniques. The correlation between in vitro and in vivo studies of these conjugated systems has also been discussed.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Conjugation
• carrier
• drug targeting
• linker
• payload
• permeation enhancement