A team of researchers at the Queen Mary University in London has been working on a new nanogel delivery system that can reduce toxicity associated with nanoparticles by engineering the gel to break down once it enters the body.
"There is a wider issue of the toxicity of nanoparticles and so my goal was to develop a polymeric system which is able to break down into its original component once it's in the body," principal investigator Marina Resmini tells The Engineer. The gel can be designed to break down once it encounters a specific enzyme or through temperature change in pH levels. "The advantage of this is the drug would be released but you wouldn't have the issue with the toxicity because they would essentially be decomposed."
Like a lot of drug delivery technologies, Resmini believes the nanogel approach can improve efficacy and safety profiles of existing drugs. The new formulation would also help pharma companies extend their products' shelf life. And Resmini says she's on track to develop this new technology to adjust the rate of release, so a therapy can be engineered into a quick, sustained or slow release product.
- here's the story from The Engineer