Your company is interested to develop two different transdermal drug delivery systems. Consider the various methods of transdermal drug delivery discussed in class and identify one method that you would like to recommend as the most promising approach to develop a transdermal system for each of the two drugs listed below. The highest priority is to develop a system that can deliver the required dose of drug and get it to market as quickly as possible. Consider the required dose and the physicochemical properties of the drug to guide your decision. Detailed calculations are not needed, but some quantitative analysis is required. Do not worry about the complications of patents just consider the benefits of each delivery method and how advanced its stage of development is. You will need to gather information about the drugs, information from the drug delivery literature, and information from company websites to make these decisions. For each question, provide approximately 200 words of text justifying your technology choice based on technical and market considerations. Show that you have accessed information from the literature and the internet by providing relevant information not presented in class to support your position.

(a) Misoprostol is currently in the news for its use in abortion, but the original use of this drug is to prevent ulcers. For this indication, misoprostol is taken as a pill four times per day. Although the drug is orally absorbed, the use of a patch might be preferred by some patients who do not like to take so many pills.

(b) Human growth hormone is taken to treat growth failure/short stature. It is currently administered by injection to children up to once per day for many years. In order to eliminate the need to use hypodermic needles, some patients may prefer to use a transdermal delivery method.