IOSR Journal Of Pharmacy And Biological Sciences (IOSR-JPBS) e-ISSN:2278-3008, p-ISSN:2319-7676. Volume 15, Issue 5 Ser. III (Sep. –Oct. 2020), PP 01-13 www.Iosrjournals.Org DOI: 10.9790/3008-1505030113 www.iosrjournals.org 1 | Page Microsponge Technology as a Novel Approach for Topical Drug Delivery: An Acquainted Review Shailesh SHARMA o* , Manjinder KAUR *** , Simranpreet KAUR **** * ORCID-0000-0003-0149-3217, Pharmaceutical Research Division, Department of Pharmaceutics, Amar Shaheed Baba Ajit Singh Jujahr Singh Memorial College of Pharmacy, BELA (Ropar) Punjab, India *** ORCID- 0000-0002-3769-6481, Pharmaceutical Research Division, Department of Pharmaceutics, Amar Shaheed Baba Ajit Singh Jujahr Singh Memorial College of Pharmacy, BELA (Ropar) Punjab, India **** ORCID- 0000-0002-1001-2422, Pharmaceutical Research Division, Department of Pharmaceutics, Amar Shaheed Baba Ajit Singh Jujahr Singh Memorial College of Pharmacy, BELA (Ropar) Punjab, India Corresponding Author: Dr. Shailesh Sharma, Professor Pharmaceutical Research Division, Department of Pharmaceutics, Amar Shaheed Baba Ajit Singh Jujahr Singh Memorial College of Pharmacy, BELA (Ropar) 140 111 Punjab, India Summary Microsponge drug delivery system offers a promising opportunities in multiple pharmaceutical implementations as it has distinctive characteristics such as enhanced product quality and elegance, expanded release, enhanced drug release profile, decreased discomfort, enhanced physical, chemical, and thermal stability, making it easy to develop novel product form. These are modern drug delivery systems capable of entrapping higher concentration of drugs due to networks or pores that interconnect. They can be prepared primarily by two techniques based on liquid suspension polymerization and solvent diffusion depending upon the physicochemical properties of the drug to be loaded. Microsponge delivery system was initially designed for the delivery of drugs topically or through the skin. Nowadays, Microsponges are often used for topical delivery carriers for anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcer therapy and constitute major components of variety of dermatological and cosmetic products such as creams, gel, lotion etc. Microsponges can also be used for oral delivery of drugs by using water soluble and bio-erodible polymers. Microsponges have a bright future in the coming era in various pharmaceutical applications which make them superior to the microcarriers of today. The present review introduces about various formulation approaches, characterization, applications, present market scenario, patents and future prospects on microsponge technology. KEYWORDS: Topical drug delivery, Microsponges, release mechanisms, Nanosponges, suspension polymerization, Applications --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date of Submission: 05-09-2020 Date of Acceptance: 20-09-2020 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Introduction Present scenario of research in pharmaceutical sciences focuses on improved health, effectiveness and patient compliance by integrating an existing medication into a new drug delivery system [1-5]. Many approaches are being used to advance new drug delivery systems to improve the safety and effectiveness of the delivery of drugs to patient [6-10]. In the field of topical drug delivery, the microsponge system was first introduced to reduce the systemic and local side effects of the drug by providing controlled and desired release of active drugs [11]. The approach is being used to enhance the protection and effectiveness of certain active ingredients that can be administered through the skin, but is not appropriate for the administration of those drugs whose main target is the skin itself [12]. The (Figure 1) shows number of problems with the conventional topical drug delivery systems [13].