Patches are also used to deliver drugs like scopolamine for motion sickness, testosterone for testosterone deficiency, estradiol for contraception, and lidocaine for local dermal anesthesia. Patches are convenient, there’s no bad taste to deal with, and delivery of medications through the skin can be highly effective, with minimal side effects.
Scientists are currently working on making a transdermal patch version of the best-selling erectile dysfunction (ED) drug Viagra. It’s an innovation in a drug category that has mostly stayed the same for its entire history, except for minor tweaks like ED medications available as dissolvable under-the-tongue tablets.
If Viagra were to become available in transdermal patch form, men would have an entirely new option for taking a drug that’s been hugely popular for nearly 20 years now.
How Transdermal Patches Work
Transdermal patches resemble the bandages people use on minor wounds, only they are impregnated with a specific dose of a medication designed to be absorbed through the skin and into the bloodstream. One of the best features of transdermal patch delivery of a drug is that it provides a controlled release when compared to other drug delivery mechanisms like intravenous, topical, or oral dosing.
Typically, these patches work through a porous membrane that covers a thin “reservoir” of medication, or else they’re designed so that ordinary body heat melts layers of medication embedded in the adhesive itself. The main “problem” with transdermal patches is that the skin itself is designed to be an effective barrier, so patches only work with drugs made up of molecules small enough to penetrate the skin. Sometimes, however, scientists are able to reformulate drugs into tiny nanoparticles that make them work in patch form. Experimental transdermal versions of Viagra fall into this category.
Risks for Dosing Errors with Transdermal Patches
Though patch delivery of medications seems straightforward and simple, it can actually be a bit complicated, and dosing errors are a possibility. The biggest dosing risks with transdermal patches generally have to do with narcotic analgesic patches, because when too much is taken in, respiratory depression (and theoretically death) could occur due to overdose. And, of course, when dealing with drugs that are subject to abuse, there are people who use patches in ways other than they are intended to be used (such as chewing on them).
Though abuse of transdermal Viagra is certainly less likely than abuse of narcotics patches, people tend to need education on proper use of patches. For example, some people don’t realize that patches have to be in direct contact with the skin and will stick a new patch on over top of an old one, which doesn’t work. Once people know exactly how to use a transdermal patch, however, they’re extremely easy to deal with.
It Could Have Fewer Side Effects
To make Viagra into a formulation that would work as a transdermal patch, scientists had to make the active ingredient, sildenafil citrate, into tiny nanoparticles that are small enough to penetrate human skin and make it to the bloodstream. They did this and created patches made of a thin film containing particles of sildenafil citrate coated with a thin layer of fat to help the molecules transfer through the skin. The patch also contained another chemical to improve skin penetration, and indeed, the drug successfully passed through inner and outer skin layers, meaning that in a few years’ time, the Viagra patch could be a real alternative.
One reason this is important is because transdermal delivery sometimes helps reduce common side effects people experience when taking a drug by mouth. Headaches, indigestion, vision disturbances, and muscle pain are all side effects of taking Viagra orally, but these side effects are expected to be less bothersome when the drug is delivered through a skin patch worn on the abdomen or upper arm.
It Also Could Work Faster and Last Longer
Another potential benefit to the delivery of Viagra or other ED drugs in patch form may be the quicker onset of action and a longer duration of effectiveness. Currently, men are advised to take Viagra half an hour to an hour before sexual activity, and the half-life of Viagra taken by mouth is around four hours.
However, scientists have hope that a Viagra patch would not only start to work quicker but would also last longer, since the drug would be delivered in a more controlled and measured manner than swallowing a pill allows.
The development of Viagra as a transdermal patch is still in its early stages, however, with scientists at King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia and at Cairo University in Egypt developing what they call “transferome” technology. So far, the only test subjects have been laboratory rats, who were fitted with tiny, 1-cm square patches impregnated with sildenafil sulfate and the other elements of transferome technology.
But they were able to determine that yes, the drug was absorbed into the bloodstream through the skin, opening up the possibility for future trials of the technology in human subjects.
Price Is a Possible Drawback
Currently, it appears that the biggest potential drawback to Viagra in patch form would be the price. This would be particularly evident in countries like European Union countries where Viagra has been off-patent for a while and there are plenty of generic competitors bringing the price down. In the United States, however, Viagra is still under patent protection, and the first generic (licensed by Pfizer) won’t even be available to Americans until the very end of the year 2017. If patches come along close to the same time generics do in the United States, the price differential may not be as obvious as it is in countries where generic alternatives to Viagra have existed for a while.
Viagra and other drugs in its class have given countless couples the world over their sex lives back by allowing greater blood flow into the penis (and hence, easier, stronger erections). But further innovations are being explored, including different drug delivery formats, like transdermal patches. Though in their early stages, such innovations offer hope that in just a few years, men may be able to enjoy the benefits of ED medications like Viagra, only with fewer unpleasant side effects, and potentially longer effectiveness.
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