Biosurfactants as Pharmaceutical Excipients: Emerging Applications

Biosurfactants are molecules made mainly by microbes such as bacteria, yeasts and fungi. They are drawing interest as possible pharmaceutical excipients thanks to their amphiphilic character, biodegradability, low toxicity, surface activity and varied biological traits. Unlike conventional synthetic surfactants, biosurfactants such as rhamnolipids, sophorolipids, surfactin, iturin and mannosylerythritol lipids give both functional and biological benefits in drug formulations. Because they lower tension, help dissolve substances, create emulsions and form micelles or vesicles, biosurfactants look promising as excipients that can boost solubility, stability, bioavailability and controlled release of drugs that do not dissolve well in water. Recent work shows biosurfactants used in nanoemulsions, microemulsions, liposomes, nanoparticles, hydrogels and other advanced drug‑delivery systems. Moreover, biosurfactants possess antimicrobial, antibiofilm, anti‑inflammatory, antioxidant and immunomodulatory actions that could give benefits beyond ordinary excipients. New studies focus on using biosurfactants in targeted drug delivery, antimicrobial products, wound‑healing devices, cancer treatment and nanomedicine. Challenges such as high production and purification costs, variable composition, issues with scaling up, toxicity testing, stability and regulatory approval still block wide use of biosurfactants in medicine. Thus, more research on production, detailed structure studies, formulation work and regulatory checks is needed to make biosurfactants the next‑generation excipients for drugs.