Insight Screening for Synergistic Combinations of Penetration Enchancers

Transdermal drug delivery route offers painless and sustained administration of therapeutic molecules. This is a big advantage as compared to pills and injections as it avoids hepatic first pass metabolism and gastro-intestinal degradation. In order for this route to work, we introduce Synergistic Combinations of Penetration Enhancers (SCOPEs). These SCOPE formulations are mixtures of single chemical Permeation Enhancers (CPEs) that help to increase the permeability of skin and offer low or no irritation. All known CPEs are classified into 8 different classes and are evaluated for their efficacy using an experimental tool known as In vitro Skin Impedance Guided High-Throughput screening (INSIGHT). INSIGHT tool measures the skin conductivity as a surrogate marker for skin permeability and is at least 100 folds more efficient as compared to conventional tools. We have already discovered binary formulations that provide a higher permeation rate for therapeutic drugs as compared to single enhancers without causing irritation in vivo. The hypothesis is that ternary enhancers may provide increased safety and potency than the binary enhancers. Using INSIGHT screening may help discover more SCOPE formulations that could aid the skin permeation of high molecular weight drugs such as peptides and proteins to the body.