In the formal launch of our first product Res-Q, the world’s first poly-herbal mouth dissolving tablet for respiratory distress, the man behind the medicine Prof. Bishwanath Sa of the Pharm. Tech. Deptt of Jadavpur University enlightened us on the concept of a novel drug delivery system. I’m going to copy and paste the exact speech in this post. Hope you enjoy reading it!

“About 4 yrs ago, one young gentleman came to me and expressed his desire to develop a poly herbal product based on research and development. He also emphasized that the product should be made using the form of novel drug delivery system, and not in the conventional form of churna, powder, paste, or ordinary tablets. We have selected some time tested constituents which have been recognized by the Indian system of medicine as safe and efficacious. Respiratory distress was out first area of interest, because of the growing environmental pollution. We scanned through the plant products and selected some constituents that have been proved to be effective for centuries. These plants grow in different regions. Depending upon the geographical conditions the active constituents may vary. After collecting the plants, we separated the extracts. Then we thought of incorporating the novel drug delivery system. Let us understand what novel drug delivery is.

 

When we take a tablet, we swallow it. Now what is the journey of the drug in the body? It reaches the stomach and breaks down to the components of the drug. The drug dissolves in the fluid of stomach and intestine. Then it crosses the gastro intestinal barrier and reaches the blood. Finally, it goes to the liver, and then to the blood and finally the target area.

 

In case of these plant products, or modern medicine or chemical constituents, there is a great possibility that many compounds will be destroyed in the highly acidic pH of the stomach. The absorption of many drugs will be interfered by the presence of covalent areas. And many components may be metabolized by the liver before reaching the blood. The consequence is the actual amount of the drug may not reach the blood. If the drug doesn’t reach the blood at a minimum level which is known as ‘minimum effective level’ then there will be no therapeutic effect. So when our doctor tell us to take baasak in a cup of boiling water, the amount of baasak might not have reached the blood, not producing the desired effect. To counter this problem, pharmaceutical technology is looking for alternative route of administration. Our oral cavity is perfused with blood. Blood comes from carotid artery in the mouth and returns to the heart directly through general circulation through jugular vein. If we place the drug in the oral cavity, it will bypass the acidic pH of the stomach; bypass the interference of food material in stomach, and the food metabolism. This was the basic idea behind incorporating novel method of drug delivery in our poly herbal product making it the world’s first poly herbal mouth dissolving tablet for respiratory distress and giving it an efficacy equivalent to that of Sorbitrate.”