Research & EducationDrug research and medicine are at a turning point: the first draft of the human genome has been completed, there is real hope that a better understanding of the genetic basis of disease will revolutionise the design of therapeutic agents.
Drug products based on biotechnology (biopharmaceuticals) are now playing an increasing role and there has been an exponential growth rate in recent years in this industry. At the same time biopharmaceuticals are expected to make the highest turnover and have shown to be of very high benefit for patients.
Still, however, the delivery of drugs to their site of action at the correct time and concentration is a key requirement and this presents a formidable challenge to be overcome if the potential post-genomic benefits to healthcare are to be realised. Although these problems exist for all types of molecules, they are particularly demanding for macromolecular biopharmaceuticals, which will form a significant proportion of the drugs that will be used in the future as new approaches to tackling disease. Biopharmaceuticals are extremely difficult to formulate and to produce as medicines on an industrial scale. In particular, they often show problems reaching the site of action.
To improve human health in the EU the biological barriers to drug delivery systems at the molecular, membrane and cellular level;
the physicochemical properties of drug delivery systems and how modifications thereof are affecting their activity within a biological environment;
the development of novel materials for drug delivery systems that will overcome these biological barriers.
As conventional pharmaceutical formulations (e.g. pills, tablets, ointments, suppositories) do not work for these gene and protein based compounds, Advanced Drug Delivery systems are needed and must be developed. Typical examples are transdermal patches, osmotic pumps, microneedle-arrays, powder-jet injectors, low-density aerosols, liposomes of nanoparticles. Research in and the development of novel drug carriers is pivotal for the faster development of new and safe medicines.
Expected scientific breakthroughs and benefits for the patient could be e.g. a needle-free insulin therapy for diabetic patients, or a true cure (not only alleviation of symptoms) for patients suffering from severe, life- threatening disease, such as cancer or AIDS. However, design, preparation and characterisation of Advanced Drug Delivery systems is a complex task and requires the implementation of a very wide array of different scientific and technological platforms.
It is only through the development of new Advanced Drug Delivery systems that we will be able to maximise or take advantage of the new products of biotechnology, e.g. those for gene therapy. In particular, translation of the knowledge derived from the human genome project to the development of biopharmaceuticals and other macromolecular systems is critically dependent upon the results of research into Advanced Drug Delivery.
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