The Technology
Amphiphilic polymeric nanoparticles are among the most clinically relevant drug nanocarriers produced by the self-assembly of amphiphilic block or graft copolymers. Their physical stability is usually jeopardized under extreme dilution in the biological medium. Moreover, their ability to control the release of the encapsulated drug is low. The design and synthesis of polymer-ceramic hybrid nanomaterials aims to capitalize on the features of each component. The incorporation of a ceramic shield confers physical and mechanical stability and by controlling its porosity, the release kinetics can be fine-tuned. In addition, some ceramic biomaterials can be used to promote hydroxyapatite deposition and bone growth. The novel technology is a new method for the synthesis of polymer-ceramic hybrid nanoparticles of controlled size and their use as drug nanocarriers. The novel technology also includes a novel kind of self-assembly polymeric nanoparticle comprised of a hydrophilic polysaccharide component that selectively binds receptors/transporters overexpressed in target cell populations such as cancer cells, cells of the immune system (e.g., macrophages, dendritic cells).
Advantages
- Simple, reproducible, flexible and cheap method to synthesize drug-loaded titania spherical nanoparticles with very fine control of the size and size distribution
- Novel polymeric micelles that show very low CMC, and higher physical stability and encapsulation capacity than standard polymeric micelles
- Polymeric micelles designed to inherently actively target specific receptors
Applications
- Pharmaceutical products and drug delivery
- Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
- Anti-bacterial coating
Business Development Contacts