dosesaving

Dosesaving, or dose-sparing, is a concept in medicine and pharmacology that seeks to achieve the intended therapeutic effect with lower drug exposure, fewer doses, or shorter treatment duration than standard regimens. The goal is to maintain efficacy while reducing toxicity, side effects, costs, and resource use. Dosesaving encompasses strategies that optimize how a drug is delivered, absorbed, and processed by the body, as well as how dosing is adjusted to individual patients.

Common approaches include pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic optimization, therapeutic drug monitoring with dose adjustments, and dose rounding or tailoring based on body size or organ function. Formulation and delivery innovations—such as sustained-release systems, targeted delivery, and the use of adjuvants or alternative routes (for example intradermal or inhaled administration)—can increase the effective exposure per unit dose. In vaccination, dose-sparing methods use fractional doses or alternate delivery routes to expand supply and maintain protection during shortages.

In antimicrobial stewardship and infectious disease management, shorter or de-escalated courses are pursued when supported by evidence to reduce exposure and resistance risk while preserving cure rates. Dose-saving concepts also appear in chronic therapies, where potent formulations or optimized schedules aim to maintain control with lower total drug exposure.

Challenges include variability in patient response, the risk of undertreatment, insufficient evidence for some regimens, regulatory barriers, and cost considerations for new formulations. Ongoing research aims to identify when dose-saving is appropriate, quantify trade-offs, and establish safe monitoring to preserve efficacy.