Targeting technologies--the expanding patent literature.

Progress in the development of drug targeting technologies is advancing at an ever-increasing rate as we hurtle toward the new millennium. Examination of just the past three years of the drug delivery technology patient literature suggests that what was previously thought impossible may now be a reality. As one goes through this literature, the breadth and ingenuity of many of these approaches are obvious. As in the inaugural article, I have grouped information gathered from this search into areas of mucosal targeting, organ and/or tissue targeting, tumor targeting and focal delivery. The patent applications described in this article represent a sampling of the work in these areas, with particular attention being paid to a few of the more novel or intriguing claims.