Introduction

Tuberculosis (TB) therapy and prevention has been driven by major discoveries in basic understanding of the disease, new drugs and potential new vaccines. The route of administration by which drugs are delivered dictates the dosage form employed. The performance measure of significance for the majority of dosage forms is the dissolution rate which, together with the biological parameter of permeability for those drugs presented at mucosal sites, dictates the appearance of the drug in the systemic circulation and ultimately its therapeutic effect. In the mid‐1980s the attention of some researchers turned to controlling the dissolution rate of orally administered drugs to treat tuberculosis by preparing polymeric microparticles. Tuberculosis is contracted by pulmonary deposition of virulent organisms and the subsequent proliferation of disease from the lungs. Inhaled therapy has been well established through the administration of drugs to treat asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).