Delivering drugs to the central nervous system: A medicinal chemistry or a pharmaceutical technology issue?

This review aims to summarize the non-invasive approaches employed in delivering drugs to the central nervous system which is severely hindered by the presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) that limits molecular permeation. Particular attention will be placed on the several available strategies for delivering drugs into the brain, through circumvention of the BBB, in order to critically address the medicinal chemistry and the pharmaceutical technology contributions.