Development of Drug Delivery Systems Professor Jeffrey T F Wong Department of Biochemistry, HKUST
Drug delivery systems enhance the effectiveness of proven drugs by conferring on these drugs a controlled and/or targeted mode of delivery to organs and tissues. They help in the slow release of oral drugs, facilitate drug delivery through the lungs, and enable liposome-based delivery. Pharmaceutical companies are relying on proprietary products to increase their competitiveness. These products come in the form of either new drug compounds or new drug delivery systems. Since new drug delivery systems are less costly to develop, it provides Hong Kong companies an opportunity to participate in the pharmaceutical industry without making huge investments. The Drug Delivery Technology Center (DDTC) at HKUST was established with the support of the Hong Kong Industry Department as well as the Biotechnology Research Institute (BRI). Under the directorship of Professor Jeffrey Wong, the Center aims at inventing new technologies in drug delivery systems which can be commercialized at affordable prices. The ultimate goal is to assist Hong Kong's pharmaceutical companies in achieving international scale of operation and revenue. DDTC has successfully developed a number of controlled-release formulations, including salbutamol, metoprolol, and ibuprofen, all of which have obtained regulatory approval from the Hong Kong Government, and have been acquired by a number of companies for manufacturing.	Professor Jeffrey T F Wong joined HKUST in 1990 where he assumed the position as Head of the Department of Biochemistry for five years. He is now a professor in the Department and the Director of the Drug Delivery Technology Center. Professor Wong obtained his PhD from the University of Toronto, Canada, in 1963, and stayed on as a faculty member in the Department of Biochemistry for 25 years. Professor Wong's expertise is in controlled-release, pulmonary, and liposome-based drug delivery systems. He is the co-inventor of a new, patented drug delivery system through the lungs. He also holds four other patents on dextran-haemoglobin as an oxygen-delivering blood substitute.
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