How medicines work 1: Physical chemistry

This unit provides an introduction to how drugs become medicines and explores factors that influence the absorption of drugs following oral administration. You will study the physicochemical properties of molecules that determine dissolution, solubility, stability and permeability in order to explain how these factors affect oral drug absorption. In addition, the barrier properties of the small intestine, and how they contribute to, or limit, the oral absorption of drugs will be discussed as well as the formulation properties of commonly-administered oral formulations (tablets and capsules).