Dexamethasone palmitate (DXP) is a prodrug of dexamethasone,which is a steroidal antinflammatory drug that is used to treat certain pain and inflammatory conditions such as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. This prodrug was prepared to increase the distribution of the parent drug, dexamethasone, in the lungs for local drug delivery and to prevent its entry into the systemic circulation. This prodrug was developed as a powder formulation that needs to be administered via the pulmonary route so that it can easily reach into the lungs and show its effect locally.Normal delivery of dexamethasone enters systemic circulation very easily but this palmitate prodrug cannot easily enter into the systemic circula-tion. Within the lungs, the prodrug is acted upon by esterase enzyme that brings about hydrolysis,leading to the release of parent drug and increases the distribution of parentdrug inside the lungs (N'Guessan et al.,2018).
