Credit: Meherant
A new advancement in pain relief may change the way humans take medicine, researchers in England have announced.
The “world’s first ibuprofen patch” was developed by researchers at the University of Warwick in England and can deliver “the drug directly through the skin to exactly where it is needed at a consistent dose rate,” the university said in a press release.
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While some pain relief gels are already on the market – as well as similar products like a nicotine patch – with this new patch, researchers have found a way to deliver “significant amounts of the drug to the polymer that applies to the skin that will then deliver a “steady rate [of ibuprofen] over up to 12 hours.”
The implications for the patch reach beyond using it solely for ibuprofen.
The patch “opens the way for the development of a range of novel, long-acting, over-the-counter pain relief products which can be used to treat common painful conditions like chronic back pain, neuralgia and arthritis without the need to take potentially damaging doses of the drug orally. Although there are a number of popular ibuprofen gels available these make it difficult to control dosage and are inconvenient to apply,” the university’s statement added.
Nigel Davis, CEO of Medherant, a co-developer of the patch, believes that within two years the patch will be brought to market in the form of over-the-counter pain-relief patches, and other products will be right around the corner.
“In addition to our pain relief products, our technology also works with drugs in many other therapeutic areas,” said Davis. “We can see considerable opportunities in working with pharmaceutical companies to develop innovative products using our next generation transdermal drug-delivery platform.
