The View From Here

Vincent HL Lee

Drug Delivery

Drug delivery research is undergoing a revolutionary transformation from a passive to an active element in drug product design. At the same time, drug delivery research is becoming increasingly multidisciplinary and computational. The convergence of nanotechnology, biotechnology, and information technology is accelerating the pace of inventing the next generation of drug delivery platforms, all on the same order in dimensions as living cells. It is gratifying to witness the coming together of scientists, engineers, and mathematicians to chart a new path in drug delivery research. Several papers in this selection capture this dimension of drug delivery research today.

The meaning of “drug delivery” has gone beyond the early focus on zero order drug release mechanisms or systems in the 1960’s. Today, a viable research program cannot afford not to have a team with competency in cell biology, physiology, organic chemistry, material science, and mathematics. The new inventions resulting from these programs may possess the capability to reach the once sheltered intracellular targets. It is hoped that protein engineers and medicinal chemists will consider drug delivery attributes in designing these molecules.  This is the essence of the review by Henck and Byrn on “Designing a molecular delivery system within a preclinical timeframe,” which appears in the March 2007 issue of Drug Discovery Today.

Vincent HL Lee
Professor and Director, Chinese University of Hong Kong
School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine
Hong Kong

Vincent H.L. Lee is an Associate Director at the Office of Pharmaceutical Science, US Food and Drug Administration, after serving on the faculty of the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles for 24 years. While at USC, Professor Lee and his research team were recognized for their pioneering contributions in three interrelated areas. They are: (a) defining the biochemical barriers to peptide and protein drug delivery; (b) elucidating the structure-function of drug transporters; and (c) characterizing the pharmacokinetic barriers to drug delivery in treating retinal degenerative diseases. His research has been recognized by several international honors and awards. Vincent H.L. Lee is presently editor-in-chief of Pharmaceutical Research and of Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews.