7. Glossary

Benefit-risk balance; benefit-to-risk ratio

The ratio between the beneficial effects and the toxic (or side, or adverse) effects of a drug.

Screening

Screening techniques aim to sort through a large number of drug candidates to identify those that may be of interest. These are quick and simple techniques that offer high yields. Cell cultures are one of the most widely used screening tools.

Encapsulation; encapsulation

The action of combining a pharmaceutically active molecule within a vector such as a nanoparticle or microparticle.

Polydispersity index

Index used to evaluate the size dispersion of a particle population. This index is calculated by particle size analysis software. The lower this index is, closer to...