Abstract
Although the advent of marketed transdermal drug-delivery products is nearing three decades, considerable strides in this noninvasive route of administration have been slow compared with its intravenous and oral counterparts, primarily due to the extreme barrier capabilities of the skin. The development of prodrug and codrug systems provides opportunity to enhance drug flux through the skin and thereby create highly desirable and efficacious treatment. The pharmacologically inactive prodrug is synthesized to increase or maximize its transdermal diffusion capabilities and then metabolized in vivo to the active compound. Similarly, codrugs are mutual prodrugs that are linked together in order to improve the drug-delivery properties of one or both drugs. This article reviews the current advances in prodrug and codrug transdermal therapy and their respective mechanisms for improvement in percutaneous absorption.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
A Stinchcomb has prodrug patents and patent applications, prodrug grants (NIH R01AA13853 and R01DA13425), and is the founder and CSO of AllTranz, a company that has some transdermal prodrugs under development. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.