How the Lack of Chitosan Characterization Precludes Implementation of the Safe-by-Design Concept

Cíntia Marques; Claudia Som; Mélanie Schmutz; Olga Borges; Gerrit Borchard

doi:10.3389/fbioe.2020.00165

How the Lack of Chitosan Characterization Precludes Implementation of the Safe-by-Design Concept

Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2020 Mar 10:8:165. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.00165. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Cíntia Marques^{1

2}, Claudia Som³, Mélanie Schmutz³, Olga Borges^{2

4}, Gerrit Borchard¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
² Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
³ Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Technology and Society Laboratory, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
⁴ Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.

Abstract

Efficacy and safety of nanomedicines based on polymeric (bio)materials will benefit from a rational implementation of a Safe-by-Design (SbD) approach throughout their development. In order to achieve this goal, however, a standardization of preparation and characterization methods and their accurate reporting is needed. Focusing on the example of chitosan, a biopolymer derived from chitin and frequently used in drug and vaccine delivery vector preparation, this review discusses the challenges still to be met and overcome prior to a successful implementation of the SbD approach to the preparation of chitosan-based protein drug delivery systems.

Keywords: chitosan; insulin; polymeric drug carriers; protein drug delivery; safe by design.

Publication types

Review