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Abstract: Artificial intelligence (AI) speeds up the drug development process and reduces its time, as well as the cost which is of enormous importance in outbreaks such as COVID-19. It uses a set of machine learning algorithms that collects the available data from resources, categorises, processes and develops novel learning methodologies. Virtual screening is a successful application of AI, which is used in screening huge drug-like databases and filtering to a small number of compounds. The brain’s thinking of AI is its neural networking which uses techniques such as Convoluted Neural Network (CNN), Recursive Neural Network (RNN) or Generative Adversial Neural Network (GANN). The application ranges from small molecule drug discovery to the development of vaccines. In the present review article, we discussed various techniques of drug design, structure and ligand-based, pharmacokinetics and toxicity prediction using AI. The rapid phase of discovery is the need of the hour and AI is a targeted approach to achieve this.

Background: Bioactive compounds obtained from natural sources like plants, algae, mushrooms and marine have become of utmost importance in the pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic industries. Many bioactive chemicals have been found to have health-promoting characteristics, including antioxidant, antidiabetic, antibacterial, and anticancer activities. Extraction of these bioactive chemicals from natural sources is difficult since they are present in extremely low concentrations inside the cell. Methods: The complete cropping of bioactive compounds from natural sources depends on several physicochemical parameters such as solvent, solvent concentration, temperature, pressure, time, etc., and they play a crucial role in determining the efficiency of extraction. Furthermore, these factors are not inherently connected to one another, but when they are combined, they change not just the extraction efficiency but also the process cost. As a result, the physicochemical parameters must be properly adjusted in order to increase the extraction efficiency as well as the biological characteristics of isolated molecules. Results: The article provides a thorough examination of several extraction strategies, as well as the mechanism and concepts that underpin them. Also, the review highlights the impact of various physicochemical parameters on the effective extraction of bioactive compounds from natural sources to meet the standards of industrial requirements. Conclusion: Many of the tests have been conducted at the laboratory level; as a result, recommendations for scaling up the extraction process have been provided in order to assess the performance of small-scale to large-scale industrial operations.

Transdermal delivery offers opportunities for inventive, challenging and valuable research with patient benefits. However, the prominent challenge in designing transdermal drug delivery systems is to overcome the natural transport barrier of the skin, the stratum corneum. Several physical and chemical enhancement techniques have been investigated in the last decade to breach the skin barrier and assist the transport of macromolecules across skin. Recent technological advances in this field include novel combination strategies of penetration enhancement techniques, microneedle array designs, needle-free technologies, nanocarriers, metered dose and microstructured transdermal systems. The present review reports on recent advances in physical approaches towards enhanced transdermal penetration. Enhancement strategies comprehensively covered in this review emphasize the significant achievements gained through successful transdermal delivery of hydrophilic macromolecules, vaccines, proteins, peptides, oligonucleotides, fluorescent dyes and plasmid delivery. Some commercially available technologies for transdermal delivery have also been covered. These novel technologies hold immense potential to advance further into clinical practice and enable better therapeutic applications and prophylactic interventions for various diseases.