Novel functional nanomaterials for Drug Delivery and Sensing

Diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) and the spinal cord affect around 165 million Europeans with disorders such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. It is estimated that 1 in 3 people suffer from neurological and psychiatric disorders or will, in the future. The global cost to European national health budgets is calculated at €800 billion per year. The systemic delivery of pharmaceutically active compounds is limited by the blood-brain barrier, a protective membrane with limited permeability.

The intranasal transport of drugs is an attractive alternative route of administration for the therapy of brain and CNS diseases, which is known to bypass the BBB. Until now, highly efficient materials and technologies for drug delivery via the olfactory mucosa, which is resistant to gravity and mucociliary clearance are yet to be developed. Recent advances in micro- and nano-carrier mediated formulations (i.e., polymer, lipid-based micro- and nanoparticles, emulsions, suspensions, liposomes, etc.) have enabled the development of potent dosage forms, which exert their beneficial effects by simultaneously addressing multiple issues (i.e., protection of drugs, permeation enhancing properties, the balance between increased drug concentration at the site of action, controlled-release and appropriate clearance etc.), which are critical to the intranasal absorption of the drugs and their subsequent delivery to the CNS. Rational design of such formulations can be realized by understanding the effect of size, surface charge and functional groups on bio-barrier permeation, taking into account the boundaries of the nasal and olfactory epithelia.