Amino Acid Derived Prodrugs: An Approach to Improve the Bioavailability of Clinically Approved Drugs

Amino acids derived prodrugs emerged as an attractive approach to improve oral delivery of drugs with low solubility and permeability. Conjugation of amino acids with parent drug molecules resulted in several-fold increases in water solubility. Acceptability of the amino acids derived prodrug approach increases day by day to fulfill the different characteristics needed to get the desired pharmacological or therapeutic activity. Due to the significant structural diversity of amino acids, various amino acids can be employed as a carrier to provide desirable Pharmacokinetic-Pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) characteristics. The present review focused on using amino acids as a carrier moiety to improve approved drugs' bioavailability. Attempts have been made to cover amino acid conjugated clinically available drugs.