Pharmaceutics is the discipline of pharmacy that deals with all facets of the process of turning a new chemical entity (NCE) into a safe and effective medication. Pharmaceutics is the science of dosage form design. Pharmaceutics deals with the formulation of a pure drug substance into a dosage form. No drug, no matter how novel or potent, is administered in a pure form. The reasons for this are myriad and vary from drug to drug: a selection of factors include poor solubility, permeability, taste, stability and or potency. Thus, drugs are formulated into a drug delivery system (DDS), the final package being the marketed medicine. Formulation of a DDS, and so creation of a medicine, is a vital step between drug synthesis and drug administration.
Careful selection of the DDS is a critical factor in determining the commercial viability of a drug and is a major focus of research and development efforts underway in both academia and industry. The science underpinning the formulation of medicines is highly complex and much broader in scope than that covered in undergraduate degree programs.
Pure drug substances are usually white crystalline or amorphous powders. Historically before the advent of medicine as a science it was common for pharmacists to dispense drugs as is, most drugs today are administered as parts of a dosage form. The clinical performance of drugs depends on their form of presentation to the patient. Reading a doctor's handwritten prescription can feel like trying to understand a foreign language. Between confusing pharmacy abbreviations, complicated medical names and other bits of information, it's natural for your eyes to glaze over after just a few seconds. Understanding exactly what your prescription means is invaluable for a few different reasons.
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