Liposome-based drug delivery of various anticancer agents of synthetic and natural product origin: a patent overview.

Phospholipid-based liposomal vesicles are among the most effective delivery options currently available for various classes of anticancer drugs. The patents granted to inventions disclosing details on liposomal delivery module by the US Patent and Trademark Office, European Patent Office, and world patent holdings through WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) patenting have been sorted based upon liposome, and anticancer keywords within the abstract and claims sections of the patents for the period between 2000 and 2019, thereby disclosing novel liposome formulations encapsulating single, or combination of chemotherapeutic agents that have been far more chemically and physiologically stable, therapeutically efficacious, and comparatively less toxic than their nonliposomal free-drug counterparts. The added stability, site-specific transport, and payload delivery, enhanced bioavailability, fast body clearance, and biocompatibility together with the controlled and sustained delivery-related benefits claimed in the patent literature have been exclusively discussed with a focus on the last 5-year period.