TPGS Functionalized Carriers: An Emerging Approach for Pulmonary Drug Delivery

Tocophersolan (D-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol succinate or TPGS) is a non-ionic surfactant fabricated by esterifying Vitamin E succinate with polyethylene glycol. Owing to its amphipathic nature and unique physicochemical attributes, TPGS offers multiple advantages in drug delivery, such as improving solubility, permeability, and bioavailability as well as assisting in designing a range of vesicular, micellar, and novel multi-particulate drug formulations. Moreover, it possesses nutritional values and has been grouped as a safe excipient by US FDA and EMA for topical, parenteral, and nasal formulations. These unique attributes make TPGS more apt for the development of novel carriers for successful pulmonary drug delivery. The present chapter aims to summarize various TPGS-based pulmonary drug delivery systems. The introductory segment focuses on the pharmacotherapy of chronic respiratory disorders and the function of nutritional agents, i.e., TPGS in respiratory disease management. Subsequent section deals with physicochemical attributes and applications of TPGS in the pharmaceutical sector. The third section thoroughly describes the impact of TPGS-based biomaterials on aerosolization performance. The section also highlights the biological consequences after intratracheal administration of TPGS-based delivery systems and in vivo anticancer activity using a lung cancer-bearing animal model. The last piece of the chapter highlights the opportunities and challenges allied to TPGS-based delivery cargos. Briefly, TPGS-based multimodal therapeutic delivery platforms offer promising outcomes in respiratory disease management.