Recent progress in solid-state NMR studies of drugs confined within drug delivery systems

Recent progress in the application of solid-state NMR (SS NMR) spectroscopy in structural studies of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) embedded in different drug carriers is detailed. This article is divided into sections. The first part reports short characterization of the nanoparticles and microparticles that can be used as drug delivery systems (DDSs). The second part shows the applicability of SS NMR to study non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). In this section, problems related to API–DDS interactions, morphology, local molecular dynamics, nature of inter- or intramolecular connections, and pore filling are reviewed for different drug carriers (e.g. mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs), cyclodextrins, polymeric matrices and others). The third and fourth sections detail the recent applications of SS NMR for searching for antibiotics and anticancer drugs confined in zeolites, MSNs, amorphous calcium phosphate and other carriers.