Cyclodextrin-Based Molecular Accessories for Drug Discovery and Drug Delivery

Recently, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) have been dramatically expanding from low-molecular weight drugs to peptides, proteins, antibodies, genes, oligonucleotides, cells, and machines. Therefore to develop pharmaceutical technologies and drug delivery systems (DDS) for these APIs, advanced molecules and novel concepts are needed. In this review, we introduce cyclodextrin-based supramolecular accessories such as molecular necklace, molecular earring, and intelligent molecular necklace, and describe their application for pharmaceutical technology and DDS. In addition, we also introduce utility of supramolecular accessories as antitumor drugs. Finally, we propose a new concept in pharmaceutical sciences termed as “supramolecular pharmaceutical sciences,” which combines pharmaceutical sciences and supramolecular chemistry. This concept could be useful for developing new ideas, methods, hypotheses, strategies, materials, and mechanisms in pharmaceutical sciences.