Controlled drug delivery: Veterinary applications

Abstract The veterinary field is an area rich with opportunity for the application of controlled release technology. Because of the large number of food producing animals and the unique problems associated with the administration of drugs to these animals, the potential markets are large as are the potential benefits. The range of therapeutic areas which have need for controlled release technologies is limited to those diseases which lead to an economic loss to the grower and/or to applications in which cost effective growth of the animal is achieved. Thus, the major areas of application of controlled release technology include the delivery of therapeutic concentrations of antibiotic or antiparasitic agents, the long term administration of anthelmintic and/or antibacterial agents for growth promotion, the delivery of hormones to achieve accelerated growth or estrus synchronization, and the long term administration of trace nutrients. In this paper the potential areas for the application of controlled release technology in the veterinary field will be reviewed, devices in current use or of potential use will be described, and areas of future opportunity will be discussed.