Biodrug Delivery Systems: Do mRNA Lipid Nanoparticles Come of Age?

Enhancing Vaccine Efficacy and Stability: A Review of the Utilization of Nanoparticles in mRNA Vaccines

The development of vaccines has entered a new era with the advent of nanotechnology, particularly through the utilization of nanoparticles. This review focuses on the role of nanoparticles in enhancing the efficacy and stability of mRNA vaccines. Nanoparticles, owing to their unique properties such as high surface area, tunable size, and their ability to be functionalized, have emerged as powerful tools in vaccine development. Specifically, lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have revolutionized the delivery of mRNA vaccines by protecting the fragile mRNA molecules and facilitating their efficient uptake by cells. This review discusses the various types of nanoparticles employed in mRNA vaccine formulations, including lipid-based, polymer-based, and inorganic nanoparticles, highlighting their advantages and limitations. Moreover, it explores the mechanisms by which nanoparticles improve immune responses, such as enhanced antigen presentation and the prolonged release of mRNA. This review also addresses the challenges and future directions in nanoparticle-based vaccine development, emphasizing the need for further research to optimize formulations for broader applications. By providing an in-depth analysis of the current advancements in and potential of nanoparticles in mRNA vaccines, this review aims to shed light on their critical role in combating infectious diseases and improving public health outcomes.

Biologics, theranostics, and personalized medicine in drug delivery systems

The progress in human disease treatment can be greatly advanced through the implementation of nanomedicine. This approach involves targeted and cell-specific therapy, controlled drug release, personalized dosage forms, wearable drug delivery, and companion diagnostics. By integrating cutting-edge technologies with drug delivery systems, greater precision can be achieved at the tissue and cellular levels through the use of stimuli-responsive nanoparticles, and the development of electrochemical sensor systems. This precision targeting - by virtue of nanotechnology - allows for therapy to be directed specifically to affected tissues while greatly reducing side effects on healthy tissues. As such, nanomedicine has the potential to transform the treatment of conditions such as cancer, genetic diseases, and chronic illnesses by facilitating precise and cell-specific drug delivery. Additionally, personalized dosage forms and wearable devices offer the ability to tailor treatment to the unique needs of each patient, thereby increasing therapeutic effectiveness and compliance. Companion diagnostics further enable efficient monitoring of treatment response, enabling customized adjustments to the treatment plan. The question of whether all the potential therapeutic approaches outlined here are viable alternatives to current treatments is also discussed. In general, the application of nanotechnology in the field of biomedicine may provide a strong alternative to existing treatments for several reasons. In this review, we aim to present evidence that, although in early stages, fully merging advanced technology with innovative drug delivery shows promise for successful implementation across various disease areas, including cancer and genetic or chronic diseases.

Long-acting inhaled medicines: Present and future

Inhaled medicines continue to be an essential part of treatment for respiratory diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cystic fibrosis. In addition, inhalation technology, which is an active area of research and innovation to deliver medications via the lung to the bloodstream, offers potential advantages such as rapid onset of action, enhanced bioavailability, and reduced side effects for local treatments. Certain inhaled macromolecules and particles can also end up in different organs via lymphatic transport from the respiratory epithelium. While the majority of research on inhaled medicines is focused on the delivery technology, particle engineering, combination therapies, innovations in inhaler devices, and digital health technologies, researchers are also exploring new pharmaceutical technologies and strategies to prolong the duration of action of inhaled drugs. This is because, in contrast to most inhaled medicines that exert a rapid onset and short duration of action, long-acting inhaled medicines (LAIM) improve not only the patient compliance by reducing the dosing frequency, but also the effectiveness and convenience of inhaled therapies to better manage patients' conditions. This paper reviews the advances in LAIM, the pharmaceutical technologies and strategies for developing LAIM, and emerging new inhaled modalities that possess a long-acting nature and potential in the treatment and prevention of various diseases. The challenges in the development of the future LAIM are also discussed where active research and innovations are taking place.