Liposomal Drug Delivery
Also known as: liposomal formulation, vesicular delivery, lipid nanoparticles
Liposomal encapsulation is a formulation technique using lipid bilayer vesicles (liposomes) to enclose drugs, improving bioavailability, reducing toxicity, and enabling targeted delivery. Developed by Alec Bangham in 1965, liposomes are now standard in pharmaceutical development, with several FDA-approved liposomal drugs on the market.
Key highlights
- Biocompatible carrier: phospholipid bilayer mimics cell membranes, reducing immunogenicity and systemic toxicity
- Versatile cargo: encapsulates hydrophilic drugs in the aqueous core and hydrophobic drugs in the lipid bilayer
- Extended circulation: PEGylation (stealth liposomes) prolongs half-life by evading opsonization
- Passive tumor targeting: enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect accumulates nanoparticles in tumor tissue
- Approved clinical products: Doxil, AmBisome, and others provide validated safety/efficacy precedents
Intuition
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How it works
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When to use it
Use liposomal encapsulation when delivering hydrophilic or hydrophobic drugs that have poor bioavailability, high systemic toxicity, or short circulation half-life — particularly for cancer chemotherapy, antifungals, vaccines, or nucleic acid delivery where targeted or sustained release is required.
Strengths & limitations
- Biocompatible carrier: phospholipid bilayer mimics cell membranes, reducing immunogenicity and systemic toxicity
- Versatile cargo: encapsulates hydrophilic drugs in the aqueous core and hydrophobic drugs in the lipid bilayer
- Extended circulation: PEGylation (stealth liposomes) prolongs half-life by evading opsonization
- Passive tumor targeting: enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect accumulates nanoparticles in tumor tissue
- Approved clinical products: Doxil, AmBisome, and others provide validated safety/efficacy precedents
- Manufacturing complexity: scale-up requires controlled extrusion or microfluidics; batch variability is common
- Stability challenges: liposomes can fuse, aggregate, or leak drug on storage; cold-chain often required
- Low encapsulation efficiency for some drugs: highly charged or membrane-permeable molecules are difficult to retain
- Cost: pharmaceutical-grade lipids and sterile manufacturing are expensive
- Rapid clearance of non-PEGylated liposomes: conventional formulations are quickly cleared by the mononuclear phagocyte system
Sources
- 1.Bangham, A. D., Standish, M. M., & Watkins, J. C. (1965). Diffusion of univalent ions across the lamellae of swollen phospholipid films and the determination of membrane potential. Journal of Molecular Biology, 13(1), 238-252.
- 2.Torchilin, V. P. (2005). Recent advances with liposomes as pharmaceutical carriers. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 4(2), 145-160.
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Cite this page
ScholarGate. (2026, June 3). Liposome Encapsulation. ScholarGate. https://scholargate.app/pharmacology/liposome-encapsulation