A review of pluronic lecithin organogel as a topical and transdermal drug delivery system

• 2 6 7 H O S P I TA L P H A R M AC I S T Pluronic lecithin organogel (PLO), a base in which drugs can be incorporated, is currently generating great interest in the US as a topical and transdermal drug delivery vehicle. Compounding pharmacists are advertising the vehicle, as well as their compounding services, and a large number of drugs have already been incorporated within PLO for human and animal use. There is a need to develop new topical and transdermal drug delivery vehicles, as well as formulate certain drugs into such preparations, for example, for use in neonates who would otherwise be subjected to multiple injections.There is also a need to produce vehicles with good organoleptic properties and which do not contain excipients such as parabens, which may irritate or sensitise the skin. However, although PLO is commercially available from at least three manufacturers, PLO-based drug containing formulations have not yet been marketed commercially.This may be because the evidence, to date, for its efficacy as a transdermal delivery vehicle is mainly anecdotal. Systematic scientific evidence is limited and little is known about its physicochemical properties as a result of the vehicle not having been studied in detail in research laboratories. It is also not yet known whether using PLO as a drug delivery system has advantages over other existing topical preparations, or whether PLO will replace any of these, because comparative studies have not been carried out. However, it is likely that PLO will replace some of the existing topical vehicles if more hospital formulation pharmacists and specials manufacturers start considering and researching PLO as an alternative vehicle to those currently used, especially for skin conditions that are currently poorly served by existing preparations.This article gives a brief history of PLO and assesses the available literature on its use as a topical and transdermal drug delivery vehicle.