Parajuli et al Journal of Drug Delivery & Therapeutics. 2015; 5(3):5-9 5 Available online on 15.05.2015 at http://jddtonline.info Journal of Drug Delivery and Therapeutics Open access to Pharmaceutical and Medical research © 2015, publisher and licensee JDDT, This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, provided the original work is properly cited RESEARCH ARTICLE PRODRUG AS A NOVEL APPROACH OF DRUG DELIVERY- A REVIEW Parajuli Rishi Ram*, Pokhrel Priyanka, Lamichane Shreekrishna, Shrestha Saroj Production Pharmacist, Time Pharmaceutical Pvt. Ltd. *Corresponding Author’s Email
[email protected] Received 12 April 2015; Review Completed 28 April 2015; Accepted 06 may 2015, Available online 15 May 2015 ABSTRACT Prodrugs are bioreversible derivatives of drug molecules that undergo an enzymatic and/or chemical transformation in vivo to release the active parent drug, which can then exert the desired pharmacological effect. Prodrug design is a choice of approach in solving many of the problems like stability, toxicity, solubility, permeability and drug targeting that affect drug discovery and development. Prodrug design is fruitful approach for drug targeting by changing the physiochemical, biopharmaceutical or pharmacokinetic properties of drugs. About 10-14% of drugs approved worldwide can be classified as prodrugs. The present article takes a review of introduction, classification, applications of prodrug design in various areas of drug development and basic functional groups that are amenable to prodrug design. Keywords: Prodrugs, objectives, classification, application, functional groups, limitation. INTRODUCTION: The term prodrug refers to a pharmacologically inactive introduction of prodrug which is best among physical compound that is converted to an active drug by a and biological means.