Researchers and clinicians work together to make new nanomaterials available for patients.
Background
An increasing number of people are diagnosed with "Crohn’s Disease" or "Ulcerative Colitis", both of which are chronic inflammatory bowel diseases of unknown cause. There is no cure for them. Therapy focuses on treating and suppressing the returning symptoms such as stomach ache and diarrhea. Unfortunately the medication used is insufficient for some patients or the high dosage they require causes adverse affects in the long term.
Aim
Despite strong efforts to develop new therapeuticals and control the severity and frequency of symptoms, patients have not benefitted from substantially improved perspectives. Collaboratively, scientists involved in basic research, medical doctors and quality management specialists are trying to establish in the laboratory whether the feared side effects of established medication, such as corticosteroids and immunosuppressants, can be eliminated by limiting their biological activity to the affected bowel area and minimising exposure of the rest of the body. The idea is to “wrap” highly concentrated medication in newly developed biodegradable nanoparticles. The medication would thus be released and activated only in the affected bowel segment and would have no (side) effects on the organism as a whole.
Significance
Chronic inflammatory bowel diseases affect 240-400 per 100,000 people in Europe and the numbers are rising. As the diseases are chronic and there is no cure, the high cost of medication will increasingly burden health care systems. This is particularly significant because there is currently a lack of effective and tolerable medication for many patients. This project combines for the first time innovative developments in nanotechnology with tried and tested clinical approaches to therapy and hopes to lay the foundation for improving the quality of life of those affected. Furthermore, the project could potentially break new ground in the treatment of other inflammatory diseases.
Original title: Delivering nanopharmaceuticals through biological barriers (acronym: BIBA)
Grant: CHF 125'000.-
Duration: 36 months
Project leader
- Dr. Caroline Anne-Margarethe Maake