Lipo-NSAID preparation

Many studies have been recently devoted to the development of new administration routes and preparations based on the concept of drug delivery systems. Lipo-preparation, a new preparation in which lipid microsphere (LM) is utilized as a drug carrier, has been found to be preferentially delivered to lesion tissues, enabling enhancement of a drug's effects and reduction of its adverse reactions. Flurbiprofen axetil is a lipo-preparation. It is a pro-drug developed to reduce gastric mucomembranous disturbances caused by flurbiprofen, a widely-used oral nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug and also to potentiate the analgesic effect of flurbiprofen. The pro-drug is intravenously injectable since flurbiprofen has been enclosed in lipid microspheres. It has been demonstrated in clinical trials that the pro-drug with strong and immediate analgesic effects is highly useful in relieving postoperative and carcinomatous pain. Flurbiprofen axetil, a lipo-NSAID preparation currently applied in clinical practice, is reviewed below.