It is well established that currently available inhaled drug formulations are associated
with extremely low lung deposition. Currently available technologies alleviate this low deposition
problem via mixing the drug with inert larger particles, such as lactose monohydrate. Those inert
particles are retained in the inhalation device or impacted in the throat and swallowed, allowing
the smaller drug particles to continue their journey towards the lungs. While this seems like a practical
approach, in some formulations, the ratio between the carrier to drug particles can be as much as 30
to 1. This limitation becomes more critical when treating lung conditions that inherently require large
doses of the drug, such as antibiotics and antivirals that treat lung infections and anticancer drugs.
The focus of this review article is to review the recent advancements in carrier free technologies
that are based on coamorphous solid dispersions and cocrystals that can improve flow properties,
and help with delivering larger doses of the drug to the lungs