From tablets to pharmaceutical nanotechnologies: Innovation in drug delivery strategies for the administration of antimalarial drugs

Malaria pharmacotherapy has slowly progressed from empirical concoctions to present-age multidrug treatments. Malaria therapy complexity is due to the necessity of using multiple drugs to counter the insurgence of parasite resistance, while preventing recrudescence. The recent inclusion in malaria pharmacotherapy guidelines of drugs with suboptimal physicochemical characteristics, primarily artemisinin and its derivatives, urgently calls for the application of technological innovations in drug delivery systems for malaria treatment. New formulation approaches for the combination of two or more drugs in a single medicinal dosage form, could provide innovative medicinal products, improve therapeutic outcomes and enhance patient compliance. The present review focuses on recent technological innovations applied to the co-formulation of antimalarial drugs in drug delivery systems. Solid dosage forms, such as tablets capable of delivering combination of drugs with individual release rates (Dome Matrix® technology) and multiparticulate forms, such as dispersible soft agglomerates are discussed. Furthermore, the application of pharmaceutical nanotechnology to malaria pharmacotherapy is evoked and outlined.