Dendrimers in drug delivery and the role of “critical nanoscale design parameters” (CNDPs)

Abstract Dendrimers are now categorized as the fourth major architectural class of polymers after linear, cross-linked and branched architectural types. Dendrimers are a new addition into the novel drug delivery systems such as liposomes, micelles, nanoparticles. The role of dendrimers as a drug delivery system has been proven in last 15 years and now research is focused in understanding its structure control using “critical nanoscale design parameters” (CNDPs). These CNDPs include; (1) size, (2) shape, (3) surface chemistry, (4) flexibility/rigidity, (5) architecture and (6) elemental composition.