> African trypanosomiasis, also known as sleeping sickness, infects 50,000 to 70,000 people each year, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa, and killed 48,000 people in 2008. So, there is a real need to develop new therapeutic strategies to fight it. Among them is a nanoparticulate formulation of diminazene, which is used to fight the disease but has very limited effectiveness in its present form. A nanoparticulate formulation, however, produced increased efficacy. Abstract
> Products from two drugmakers are going back into production following the facility restart of contract manufacturer Aveva Drug Delivery Systems. Aveva has notified the FDA that it plans to resume manufacturing, to the relief of BioDelivery Sciences and ProStrakan. Both brand-holders say they expect new supplies of their Aveva-manufactured products--BioDelivery's Onsolis and ProStrakan's Sancuso--to be available by March. Story
> Gold nanoshells can be used to deliver a little heat to breast tumor cells already treated with radiation, boosting the killing power of both therapies. Report
> Cambridge Consultants and Sun Pharma have developed a dry powder inhaler that administers a metered dose of the drug to the deep lung, regardless of the strength of the patient's intake of breath. News
> Bulk syringes are out, prefilled syringes are in. Story
Drug delivery patent application of the week: LDL-like cationic nanoparticles for deliverying nucleic acid gene, method for preparing thereof and method for deliverying nucleic acid gene using the same. Patent Application
Drug delivery abstract of the week: Encapsulation of valproate-loaded hydrogel nanoparticles in intact human erythrocytes: A novel nano-cell composite for drug delivery. Abstract
"Nano" word of the week: "Nanorattle," as in... In Vivo Delivery of Silica Nanorattle Encapsulated Docetaxel for Liver Cancer Therapy with Low Toxicity and High Efficacy Abstract