Bioinspired oral delivery devices

Oral administration is a widespread and convenient drug delivery approach. However, oral delivery can be affected by the complex digestive tract environment, including irregular tissue morphology, the presence of digestive enzymes, mucus and mucosal barriers, and spatiotemporal variance in physiological parameters. These obstacles can prevent the oral delivery of many therapeutics. To overcome these challenges, oral delivery devices can be designed with bioinspired compositions, structures or functions to make more drugs available for oral administration. Various bioinspired oral delivery devices have been developed by harnessing biological materials and living microorganisms, or by imitating biological structures and functions. In this Review, we discuss the design and modification of bioinspired oral delivery devices, examining engineering strategies to target specific tissues and applications. We highlight how key bottlenecks in oral delivery can be addressed through bioinspired designs, concluding with an outlook on the remaining challenges towards the clinical translation of bioinspired oral delivery devices. Oral drug delivery is a commonly used strategy to deliver therapeutics. However, the harsh environment in the digestive tract prevents the oral administration of many drugs and can negatively affect drug efficacy. This Review discusses how biological materials and living microorganisms can be designed into bioinspired oral delivery devices that can overcome many of the challenges associated with oral delivery.