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Nanopharmaceuticals (part 2): products in the pipeline.

ABSTRACT: In part I of this review we assessed nanoscience-related definitions as applied to pharmaceuticals and we discussed all 43 currently approved drug formulations, which are widely publicized as nanopharmaceuticals or nanomedicines. In continuation, here we review the currently ongoing clinical trials within the broad field of nanomedicine. Confining the definition of nanopharmaceuticals to therapeutic formulations, in which the unique physicochemical properties expressed in the nanosize range, when man-made, play the pivotal therapeutic role, we found an apparently low number of trials, which reflects neither the massive investments made in the field of nanomedicine nor the general hype associated with the term "nano." Moreover, after an extensive search for information through clinical trials, we found only two clinical trials with materials that show unique nano-based properties, ie, properties that are displayed neither on the atomic nor on the bulk material level.

SUBMITTER: Weissig V

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4334342 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Nanopharmaceuticals (part 2): products in the pipeline.

Weissig Volkmar V Guzman-Villanueva Diana D

International journal of nanomedicine 20150211

In part I of this review we assessed nanoscience-related definitions as applied to pharmaceuticals and we discussed all 43 currently approved drug formulations, which are widely publicized as nanopharmaceuticals or nanomedicines. In continuation, here we review the currently ongoing clinical trials within the broad field of nanomedicine. Confining the definition of nanopharmaceuticals to therapeutic formulations, in which the unique physicochemical properties expressed in the nanosize range, whe ...[more]

PMID: 25709446

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Project description:Nanopharmaceuticals possess a myriad of advantages for disease treatment, not only in delivering therapeutic agents, but also in deciphering their innate intracellular or subcellular behaviours, providing detailed diagnostic and prognostic information, quantifying treatment efficacy and designing better therapeutics. To evaluate the subcellular behaviour of nanopharmaceuticals, colourful fluorescence is the most potential technique, because it is capable of painting the subcellular detail in three dimensions with high resolution. Furthermore, the fluorescence is switchable, and thus the subcellular details can be lightened specifically without the undesirable background. However, most nanopharmaceuticals lack a fluorescent report group, and its introduction requires extra steps. Moreover, the introduced fluorescent groups can suffer from concentration quenching or aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) when they are embedded in nanopharmaceuticals at a high concentration. The unique aggregation-induced emission (AIE) effect provides a straightforward solution. The aromatic cores of AIE molecules are always hydrophobic and do not undergo the ACQ effect even at high concentrations. Hence, AIE molecules can be directly introduced as building blocks to provide the driving force for the self-assembly of nanopharmaceuticals and can allow us to develop label-free, ACQ-free and luminescent nanopharmaceuticals that can simultaneously implement drug delivery and subcellular behaviour evaluation. This review presents different types of AIE molecules-based nanopharmaceuticals and their biological properties and applications for imaging subcellular behaviours, including the drug releasing process, metabolism of nanopharmaceuticals, subcellular distributions of drug and carriers, and therapeutic effect. With detailed acquaintance of these subcellular behaviours, we anticipate that the research we discuss in this review can inspire other scientists to develop next generation nanopharmaceuticals that can be guided by fluorescence imaging and thus can realize concisely controllable drug delivery.

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Nanopharmaceuticals (part 2): products in the pipeline.

Publications

Nanopharmaceuticals (part 2): products in the pipeline.

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