Recalcitrant Issues and New Frontiers in Nano-Pharmacology

Vinay Bhardwaj; Ajeet Kaushik; Ziad M Khatib; Madhavan Nair; Anthony J McGoron

doi:10.3389/fphar.2019.01369

Recalcitrant Issues and New Frontiers in Nano-Pharmacology

Front Pharmacol. 2019 Nov 29:10:1369. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2019.01369. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Vinay Bhardwaj¹, Ajeet Kaushik², Ziad M Khatib³, Madhavan Nair⁴, Anthony J McGoron⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ, United States.
² Department of Natural Sciences, Florida Polytechnic University, Lakeland, FL, United States.
³ Division of Hematology Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Nicklaus Children's Hospital, Miami, FL, United States.
⁴ Center for Personalized Nanomedicine, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United States.
⁵ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United States.

Abstract

Packaging of old pharma drugs into new packaging "nanoparticles" is called nano-pharmacology and the products are called nano-based drugs. The inception of nano-pharmacology research and development (R&D) is marked by the approval of the first nano-based drug Doxil^® in 1995 by the Food and Drug Administration. However, even after more than two decades, today, there are only ∼20 nano-based drugs in the market to treat cancers and brain diseases. In this article we share the perspectives of nanotechnology scientists, engineers, and clinicians on the roadblocks in nano-pharmacology R&D. Also, we share our opinion on new frontiers in the field of nano-pharmacology R&D that may allow rapid and efficient transfer of nano-pharma technologies from R&D to market.

Keywords: Doxil; nano-based drugs; nanomedicine; nanoparticles; research and development; theranostics.