The Technology
The lungs can be described as a dense tree, where the airways resemble branches, ending with raspberry-like acinar sacs. The acinar sacs are made of alveoli, the basic respiratory units of the lungs. The alveolar lumen is composed of a confluent layer of alveolar epithelial cells where the underlying alveolar wall membrane is perfused by a vast network of capillaries. The main function of the lungs is undertaken within the alveolar space with the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. The lungs constitute the largest non-invasive pathway for drug delivery, with an exchange surface estimated at over 100 m2 in an average adult. This pathway is particularly attractive for treating lung diseases topically, including lung cancer, asthma and obstructive diseases (e.g., COPD). Moreover, from a systemic delivery perspective, it can represent the only available non-invasive delivery method for many drugs that cannot be orally administered through the digestive system due to degradation (e.g., proteins such as insulin). In past decades, there has been substantial progress in understanding respiratory fluid dynamics and the transport of inhaled therapeutic aerosols, including the physical (e.g., aerodynamic) determinants affecting lung deposition outcomes. Nevertheless, the ability to target either a specific pulmonary region (e.g., alveolar region) or a localized point within the airway tree (e.g., lung tumors in the context of bronchogenic carcinoma) remains poor. The novel technology provides compositions, kits and methods for depositing a composition comprising a plurality of magnetic particles, to a target site of a subject by delivering the composition via controlled inhalation to a region of the subject’s respiratory tract, and applying a magnetic field to a target site within the region of the subject’s respiratory tract to capture the particles in said target site.
Advantages
- Drug can be mostly deposited in the region of the tumor, much larger doses can be given with fewer side-effects
- External detection of magnetized particles can be also used for fine-tuning of personalized treatment
Applications and Opportunities
- Lung cancer
- Local pulmonary disease
Business Development Contacts