Nanotechnology, the application of functional materials, devices, and systems of matter in the sub-100 nanometre scale, has
the potential to improve the delivery of approved and novel drugs through the design of nano-engineered drugs and the development of a plethora of nano-carriers. Whilst the pharmaceutical industry has been relatively slow to invest resources into this innovative technology, a number of nanotechnology-focused companies have become established and are driving the future of this rapidly evolving market.
Twelve nano-enabled products are now approved for the treatment of a range of conditions from antibacterial infections to cancer and from the central nervous system to metabolic disorders. These products utilize a range of nanotechnologies including liposomes and polymeric micelles.
FUMAGILLIN A fungal drug called fumagillin, which stops angiogenesis--the formation of new blood vessels, a critical factor in tumor development--by blocking the proliferation of endothelial cells that line blood vessel walls. Fumagillin is a powerful chemotherapeutic agent, but the dose needed to successfully suppress tumors cause’s intolerable neurotoxic side effects. This is a pervasive problem in chemotherapy: drugs strong enough to kill tumors are also strong enough to damage healthy tissue, often rendering the treatment as dangerous as the disease.
To target fumagillin directly at the blood vessels that feed a growing tumor, researchers adopted a nanoparticle platform they had previously developed for imaging growing blood vessels. The
nanoparticles, about 250 nanometers in diameter, have inert liquid centers and an oily surface laced with two kinds of molecules--one for
targeting and another for imaging. The targeting molecule is designed to latch onto a protein found in high concentrations on the endothelial cells that line walls of new blood vessels, while the imaging molecule is a metallic substance that shows up on an MRI. To adapt the system for cancer treatment, they added fumagillin to the nanoparticles' oily coatings.
When injected into the bloodstream, the nanoparticles remain intact, protecting healthy tissues from absorbing their toxic payload. But when they reach the blood vessels feeding a tumor, their targeting molecules lock onto the surfaces of proliferating endothelial cells. Once attached, the particles' lipid coats fuse with the cells' lipid membranes and deliver the drug and the imaging molecule.
REXIN- G Rexin-G® is the world's smallest hero. A tiny particle that can travel freely within the human body seeking out cancerous tissues and metastatic tumors that can spread far and wide. An entire army of these tiny nano-particles seeking out and accumulating to high concentrations within the flagrant, otherwise intractable tumors with one goal in mind: to destroy the metastatic cancers from the inside.
. By selectively targeting cancers and their associated blood supply, while sparing normal cells and healthy tissues, these tiny nano-particles are inherently "smart." In performing a vital cancer surveillance function, they are uniformly "vigilant." By taking on a broad spectrum of cancers that are determined to be refractory to standard chemotherapy (i.e., ineffectual apothecary), they are exceedingly "valiant." By reducing the cancer patient's body burden and extending overall survival, they are truly "heroic." In a manner of speaking, these tiny nano-particles may well be the smallest heroes in the entire world.
Rexin-G is currently in Phase I/II clinical trials in the US for metastatic or locally advanced pancreatic cancer, a programme that was recently extended to breast cancer and sarcomas that have failed standard chemotherapy.
Rexin-G is a monotherapy drug or may be used in combination with Reximmune-C.
FUTURE APPLICATIONS OF NANO-ENABLED DRUG DELIVERY
Tissue specific delivery – targeting the delivery of small and macromolecules across biological membranes such as the blood brain barrier for CNS drugs
Gene and vaccine delivery – non-viral delivery of genetic materials in nanohydrogels and nanocarriers with a high degree of efficiency and expression
Controlled-release devices – design of new nanoporous, bioerodible membranes such as hydroxyhapaptite
Increased biocompatibility – design of artificial surfaces engineering for medical and dental implants to by-pass unwanted inflammatory response reagents by nanostructuring
Applied diagnosis, etiology, prognosis and therapy (ADEPT) -technology for the safe targeted delivery of toxic therapeutic drugs such as chemotherapeutic agents
COMPANIES IN NANO-ENABLED DRUG DELIVERY...
Abraxis Bioscience,Access Pharmaceuticals,AlphaRx Corporation,ALZA Corporation,BioSante Pharmaceuticals,Camurus AB,Eiffel Technologies,Elan Corporation ,Eurand,Gilead Sciences,Nano Interface Technology,Nano S Biotechnology,NanoBio Corporation,NanoBioMagnetics Inc,NanoBiotix,NanoCarrier,Nanotechnology Victoria,NanoMaterials Technology,Nanotherapeutics Inc,Novavax,pSivida,Spherics