Spanish researchers demonstrated that bacterial inclusion bodies, non-toxic nanostructures, hold promise for a sustained, local delivery of protein drugs by mimicking components of a mammal’s endocrine system. New materials developed as controllable, localized systems of drug delivery often aim to be immobilized in a given tissue as a drug “depot” for long term supply of […]
Research & Development
Solid drug nanoparticles could improve delivery of HIV therapies
Researchers from the University of Liverpool have developed a method of delivering pediatric HIV drugs using solid drug nanoparticles, according to a study published today in Nature Communications. There are no clinically available oral nanotherapies for HIV patients and pediatric HIV medicines are not widely available, according to the researchers. The team examined a current pediatric […]
Gold nanoparticles hold promise for pancreatic cancer treatment
Gold nanoparticles could be an important part of developing a treatment for pancreatic cancer, according to new research published yesterday in the journal ACS Nano. Previous work demonstrated that gold nanoparticles can be an effective vehicle to carry chemotherapy drugs into tumors. They can also act as a target to enhance the impact of radiation on […]
Emulate, LabCorp’s Covance launch organ-on-a-chip program
Emulate, Inc. and LabCorp‘s (NYSE:LH) Covance Drug Development biz inked a deal to collaborate for an organ-on-a-chip preclinical drug evaluation and testing service. Emulate’s organ-on-a-chip tech is designed to be a predictive model of the human body’s response to diseases and medications. The companies plan to combine the organ modeling tech with Covance’s expertise of […]
SteadyMed details commercialization plans for Trevyent
SteadyMed Therapeutics (NSDQ:STDY) today detailed the development of its lead drug candidate, Trevyent (treprostinil sodium), for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension using its PatchPump tech at the Parenteral Drug Assn. Conference in Huntington Beach, Calif. PatchPump is the 1st single-use, wearable, pre-filled pump and treprostinil will be the 1st drug integrated with the delivery system, according to the San […]
Mast Therapeutics inks deal with Philips Respironics for iNeb aerosol delivery device
Mast Therapeutics (NYSE:MSTX) said today that its subsidiary Aires Pharmaceuticals landed a collaborative agreement with Royal Philips (NYSE:PHG) sleep and respiratory care subsidiary Philips Respironics. The agreement covers Philips’ iNeb aerosol drug delivery device and Mast’s lead product candidate, AIR001, a sodium nitrite solution for intermittent inhalation. The iNeb system is a portable, small vibrating mesh technology […]
Physicists develop first artificial cell-like vesicles from natural proteins
Researchers at Saarland University in Saarbrücken, Germany have developed cell-like vesicles made from a bilayer of naturally occuring proteins that can be used in an aqueous or an oil-based environment. The team was characterizing naturally occurring proteins called hydrophobins when they observed a strange behavior. “We noticed that the hydrophobins form colonies when they are placed in […]
Physics-modeling software solves drug-delivery engineering problem
Software that models the laws of physics is usually used by theoretical physicists. But a multi-physics program based on “1st principles” can be used in real-world applications, as evidenced by a problem that cropped up for Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) while developing needle-based drug-delivery systems. Bernard McGarvey, a senior engineering advisor for the US pharma giant, said the […]
Researchers look to create massive human cell ‘atlas’
Scientists launched a global initiative on Friday to map out and describe every cell in the human body in a vast atlas that could transform researchers’ understanding of human development and disease. The atlas, which could take more than a decade to complete, aims to chart the types and properties of all human cells across all […]
CERN researcher’s fertility app is as good as oral contraceptives, condoms
Natural Cycles, the fertility app developed by former CERN particle physicist Elina Berglund, is reportedly as effective at preventing pregnancy as oral contraceptives or condoms, boasting a 99.5% efficacy rate. Berglund began working on the app while she was still at the particle physics laboratory in Geneva, she told Wired. “I wanted to give my […]
