Need pain relief?
No more pills and injections

The good news

Good news for all those who hate popping pills or fear needles. Faculty Researchers at MET Institute of Pharmacy, Mumbai have formulated a simple answer to pain relief. "We have formulated a medicated 'Buccal' patch that can be placed inside the mouth. The blood vessels inside the mouth will absorb the medicine directly and the patient will be relieved of pain." Says Dr. Abha Doshi who leads the research team. Dr. Doshi is the Principal of MET Institute of Pharmacy (degree) and is also an award-winning author of the prestigious M L Khorana award, conferred on her in 2003, for her paper on Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry.

Two options for pain-relief

The 'Buccal' patch has been developed for fast action and sustained relief. There is a possibility of the fast acting 'Buccal' patch to be a simpler alternative for patients averse to needle pricks and tablets.

No side effects

A medical innovation, this patch promises to be a simple answer to side effects like gastric irritation caused by pills. "Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs -NSAIDs taken for pain relief have to pass the stomach and liver before entering the bloodstream. This process is longer and also causes gastric irritation. By using the 'Buccal' patch the drug is directly absorbed into the blood stream to the areas where it is supposed to treat thus bypassing the stomach and liver and eliminating side-effects." Says Bhagyashree Joshi from the MET research team.

Lower dosage required

Says Sheeja Koliyote, "Since the drug directly enters the blood stream, the dosage required to treat the condition is much less. E.g. The 'Buccal' patch with 20 mg drug will give the same effect as an oral tablet containing 50 mg of the drug. Sheeja Koliyote is the third member of the research team.

When will this product hit the market?

MET Institute of Pharmacy have conducted this laboratory research. However, we are not producers of product we are producers of research. When leading pharmaceutical companies come to know about this, they will surely be interested in using this research for new formulation development.

Is the 'Buccal' patch addictive? Does it have side effects?

It is envisaged to be a prescribed drug meant for therapeutic treatment. Further researches and tests are still underway to validate all other possibilities.

How much will it cost?

Can't say. But the cost is estimated to be in the same range as tablets for the same drug.

How much wieghtage does this research carry?

The faculty team consisting of Dr. Abha Doshi - Principal - MET Institute of Pharmacy (degree), Ms. Sheeja Koliyote - Faculty - MET Institute of Pharmacy (degree), Ms. Bhagyashree Joshi - Faculty - MET Institute of Pharmacy (degree) were invited to attend the 5th World Meeting on Pharmaceutics, Biopharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology from March 27 to 30, 2006 at Centre International de Conferences Geneve - CICG, Geneva, Switzerland where they presented their research findings.

MET is dedicated to newer research findings

Several faculty members of MET Institute of Pharmacy have been presenting research papers in national and international conferences. Moreover, few of the research papers have been published in reputed journals. "Research gives the cutting edge. As an Institute committed to research, development and dissemination of relevant knowledge we constantly endeavour to provide path-breaking researches to the corporate and academia" says Sunil G Karve, Founder Trustee and Vice Chairman, MET League of Colleges.

Over the years, MET Institute of Pharmacy has emerged as a thought-leader in providing path-breaking researches to corporates and academia.

Other Research Papers by MET Faculty

A paper was presented to the Association of Pharmaceutical Teachers of India in Nagpur entitled " A Novel Technique To Measure Rat Paw Edema" authored by Dr. U.B. Hadkar, Dr. Sonali Ghatpande and Mrs. Mrinal. M. Sanaye. It was a simple reliable economical method to measure rat paw edema which requires a pool of Hg. This method can be used as an alternative to current expensive method which involves the use of plethysmometer.

The research paper was published in the December 2006 issue of Pharma bioworld magazine.

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