Below are several areas, from our perspective, that will generate medical breakthroughs in the near future, and some of them could inspire the derivation of the next “Killer Applications”. 8 Beyond these clinically efficacious nanosystems, nanotechnology has been utilized to enable new therapies and to develop next generation nanosystems for “smart” drug delivery. tumors) through the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect. In addition, nanoscale particles can passively accumulate in specific tissues (e.g. Thus, the toxic side effects of drugs can be reduced, as well as the administration frequency. In particular, they can enhance the therapeutic activity by prolonging drug half-life, improving solubility of hydrophobic drugs, reducing potential immunogenicity, and/or releasing drugs in a sustained or stimuli-triggered fashion. Here, we highlight some nanoscale delivery systems that serve as important milestones throughout the history of drug delivery.Ĭompared to conventional drug delivery, the first generation nanosystems provide a number of advantages. Timeline of nanotechnology-based drug delivery. 4, 5 In this perspective, we discuss the applications of nanomedicine with specific focus on drug delivery and tissue engineering. As recognition of the importance of this exciting field, it is expected that the global market of nanoscale applications in the medical field could grow to $70 - $160 billion by 2015. Some of these opportunities are becoming realities or are actually being used today, while others are generating promise in their early phases of development and are expected to experience vigorous growth in the foreseeable future. Summarized in Box 1 are some important opportunities that nanotechnology may afford in each research area. The current and promising applications of nanomedicine include, but are not limited to, drug delivery, in vitro diagnostics, in vivo imaging, therapy techniques, biomaterials, and tissue engineering. 1 - 3ĭrug discovery is only one of the many areas in healthcare that nanotechnology is now benefiting. Indeed, current nanotechnology-based therapeutic products have been validated through the improvement of previously approved drugs, and many novel classes of nanotherapeutics are now underway. This is just one example that demonstrates the degree to which nanotechnology may revolutionize the rules and possibilities of drug discovery and change the landscape of pharmaceutical industries. solubility and circulating half-life) of such NMEs can be drastically improved-essentially leading to the discovery of optimally safe and effective drug candidates. By using nanoscale delivery vehicles, the pharmacological properties (e.g. However, with the emerging trends and recent advances in nanotechnology, it has become increasingly possible to address some of the shortcomings associated with potential NMEs. In either case, there is always a degree of compromise and such trade-offs may inevitably result in the production of less-ideal drugs. On the other hand, less active but pharmaceutically optimal compounds may become more suitable candidates for development. In pharmaceutical industries, a new molecular entity (NME) that demonstrates potent biological activity but poor water solubility, or a very short circulating half-life, will likely face significant development challenges or be deemed undevelopable.
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