Spanlastics: Bridging Innovation and Efficacy in Drug Delivery

The novel drug delivery system ‘spanlastics’ has received prominence for its potential to enhance drug stability, targeted delivery, and bioavailability. Unlike traditional drug carriers, these surfactant-based nanovesicles have nonionic surfactants (Spans) incorporated with edge activators, giving them high permeability and high deformability. Moreover, spanlastic formulations overcome some of the most important limitations of traditional drug delivery systems, offering higher chemical stability and biocompatibility. Their ability to encapsulate hydrophilic and lipophilic drugs increases spanlastics' use for various administration routes like oral, ocular, transdermal, and nasal delivery. Furthermore, spanlastics enable controlled and sustained drug release, decreasing the frequency of dosage and improving patient compliance. This review comprehensively analyzes spanlastic technology covering its composition, preparation methods, mechanisms of drug penetration, and characterization, as well as major pharmaceutical applications, highlighting the technology's prospects in contemporary drug delivery and nanomedicine.