The use of biopharmaceuticals dates from the 19th century and within 5–10 years, up to 50% of all drugs in development will be biopharmaceuticals. In the 1980s, the biopharmaceutical industry experienced a significant growth in the production and approval of recombinant proteins such as interferons (IFN α, β, and γ) and growth hormones. The production of biopharmaceuticals, known as bioprocess, involves a wide range of techniques. In this review, we discuss the technology involved in the bioprocess and describe the available strategies and main advances in microbial fermentation and purification process to obtain biopharmaceuticals.

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Oral route maintains its predominance among the ones used for drug delivery, especially when medicines are self-administered. If the dosage form is solid, therapy gains in dose precision and drug stability. Yet, some active pharmaceutical substances do not present the required solubility, permeability, or release profile for incorporation into traditional matrices. The combination of nanostructured drugs (nanoparticle [NP]) with these matrices is a new and little-explored alternative, which could bring several benefits. Therefore, this review focused on combined delivery systems based on nanostructures to administer drugs by the oral cavity, intended for buccal, sublingual, gastric, or intestinal absorption. We analyzed published NP-in-matrix systems and compared main formulation characteristics, pharmacokinetics, release profiles, and physicochemical stability improvements. The reported formulations are mainly semisolid or solid polymers, with polymeric or lipid NPs and one active pharmaceutical ingredient. Regarding drug specifics, most of them are poorly permeable or greatly metabolized. The few studies with pharmacokinetics showed increased drug bioavailability and, sometimes, a controlled release rate. From our knowledge, the gathered data make up the first focused review of these trendy systems, which we believe will help to gain scientific deepness and future advancements in the field.

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Acidic environments, such as in inflamed tissues, favor the charged form of local anesthetics (LA). Hence, these drugs show less cell permeation and diminished potency. Since the analgesic capsaicin (CAP) triggers opening of the TRPV1 receptor pore, its combination with LAs could result in better uptake and improved anesthesia. We tested the above hypothesis and report here for the first time the analgesia effect of a two-drug combination (LA and CAP) on an inflamed tissue. First, CAP solubility increased up to 20 times with hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD), as shown by the phase solubility study. The resulting complex (HP-β-CD-CAP) showed 1:1 stoichiometry and high association constant, according to phase-solubility diagrams and isothermal titration calorimetry data. The inclusion complex formation was also confirmed and characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction, and 1H-NMR. The freeze-dried complex showed physicochemical stability for at least 12 months. To test in vivo performance, we used a pain model based on mouse paw edema. Results showed that 2% mepivacaine injection failed to anesthetize mice inflamed paw, but its combination with complexed CAP resulted in pain control up to 45 min. These promising results encourages deeper research of CAP as an adjuvant for anesthesia in inflamed tissues and cyclodextrin as a solubilizing agent for targeting molecules in drug delivery.