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Medical Nanotechnology

Shortening Clinical Trials and Regulatory Pathways?

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Abstract

Nanotechnology, the science of creating structures, devices, and systems with a length scale of approximately 1–100 nanometers, is poised to have a revolutionary effect on biomedical research and clinical science. By operating at the same scale as most biomacromolecules, nanoscale devices can afford a detailed view of the molecules and events that drive cellular systems and that lie at the heart of disease, and thus, nanotechnology can impact the drug discovery, development, and clinical testing of novel pharmaceuticals. Already, nanoscale drug delivery vehicles are in clinical use, but those successes represent just one way in which nanotechnology will prove useful. One promising nanoscale technology under development may provide real-time, in vivo measurements of apoptosis, and thus may afford an early signal of therapeutic efficacy, both in human clinical trials and in preclinical screening. Microfluidic systems, built of nanoscale components, can enable a host of rapid, massively parallel, high-throughput screening systems, while nanoscale sensors in a wide variety of formats are ready to provide multiplexed biochemical and genetic measurements in living systems. These advances could be utilized to shave time and expense from multiple stages of the drug discovery and development effort.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the contributions of Joe Alper and Travis Earles in preparing this manuscript.

Preparation of this article was supported by the National Cancer Institute. The authors have no conflicts of interest directly relevant to the contents of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    Mauro Ferrari & Gregory Downing

  2. The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA

    Mauro Ferrari

  3. 110U Davis Heart & Lung Research Institute, The Ohio State University, 473 W. 12th Ave, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA

    Mauro Ferrari

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  1. Mauro Ferrari
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  2. Gregory Downing
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Correspondence to Mauro Ferrari.

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Ferrari, M., Downing, G. Medical Nanotechnology. BioDrugs 19, 203–210 (2005). https://doi.org/10.2165/00063030-200519040-00001

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2165/00063030-200519040-00001

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