Nanoparticles in the clinic: An update

Abstract

Nanoparticle drug delivery systems have been used in the clinic since the early 1990's. Since that time, the field of nanomedicine has evolved alongside growing technological needs to improve the delivery of various therapeutics. Over these past decades, newer generations of nanoparticles have emerged that are capable of performing additional delivery functions that can enable treatment via new therapeutic modalities. In the current clinical landscape, many of these new generation nanoparticles have reached clinical trials and have been approved for various indications. In the first issue of Bioengineering & Translational Medicine in 2016, we reviewed the history, current clinical landscape, and clinical challenges of nanoparticle delivery systems. Here, we provide a 3 year update on the current clinical landscape of nanoparticle drug delivery systems and highlight newly approved nanomedicines, provide a status update on previous clinical trials, and highlight new technologies that have recently entered the clinic.

Renal Clearable Luminescent Gold Nanoparticles: From the Bench to the Clinic

“…They can serve as contrast agents for X‐ray imaging, agents for cancer photothermal therapy, radiation sensitizers for cancer radiation therapy, and drug delivery systems for cancer chemotherapy . While gold nanoparticles are considered biocompatible because they are relatively inert in biological environments, the FDA has not approved any gold‐based nanomedicines . One of the major challenges in clinical translation of nanomaterials is the potential toxicity, which is caused by their long‐term body accumulation owing to the large core size or serum‐protein adsorption.…”

Bioconjugation with Maleimides: A Useful Tool for Chemical Biology

“…In the field of oncology, controlled surface functionalization has been of key‐importance in the design of several actively targeted nanocarriers . As drug delivery vehicles, nanoparticles offer improved pharmacokinetics and safety profiles, being already approved for clinical use (among other examples in clinical trials pipeline) . The single solvent accessible disulfide bridge of trastuzumab Fab domain was functionalized using DBPD 113 , and then attached onto the surface of PLGA‐PEG‐azide nanoparticles through the cyclooctyne moiety present in the cross‐linker.…”

Materials for Immunotherapy

“…Over the last several decades, nanotechnology has transformed drug delivery by enabling the transport of small therapeutic agents to areas in the body that are otherwise too difficult to reach. Armed with an expanding set of strategies to tailor their properties for specific indications, nanoparticles are accelerating into the clinic at an unprecedented pace . As it follows, this class of materials represents the largest and the most active area in immunomaterials research …”