Untitled

Abstract

Skin is the most easily accessible organ which has been used as a route for the delivery of therapeutic agents into the systemic distribution. The chief component of a transdermal (TND) drug delivery system is a controlled release device consist of polymers. Hence the selection of appropriate polymer is a key step during the development of TND patch. In recent years, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) have gained tremendous attention in the field of TND drug delivery because of their favorable features such as biocompatibility, hydrophilicity, biodegradability and excellent film forming ability. In this article the applicability of PVA in developing TND patches are discussed. The application of PVA through chemical modification as TND device is also detailed.The potential of PVA based devices such as microneedles, TND films, organic-inorganic hybrid patches, nanocomposites etc to delivery drug molecules across the skin are described.