Ask the experts: the benefits and challenges of pulmonary drug delivery.

The field of pulmonary drug delivery is ever progressing with technological advances in inhaler device design, the development of increasingly sophisticated techniques in targeted delivery and new opportunities in drug formulation, largely as a product of the rapidly advancing area of nanotechnology. Though pulmonary administration offers numerous advantages in terms of both local and systemic drug delivery, the translation of inhaled drugs from bench-to-bedside presents an ongoing challenge. Hannah Coaker, Assistant Commissioning Editor, spoke to six experts and discussed their motivations for becoming involved in the field, major obstacles in aerosol drug development and the evolving area of pulmonary drug delivery.