Recently, the explosion of progress of materials at the nanoscale level has paved the way for a new category of healthcare technologies termed nanomedicine. Nanomedicine involves materials at the nanometer level for products that can improve the currently used technologies for biomedical applications. While traditional therapeutics have allowed for limited control of their distribution in the body and clearing times, engineering at the nanoscale level has allowed for significant advances in biocompatibility, biodistribution, and pharmacokinetics. Among all materials, polymers have dominated the nanomedicine world, due to their ability to manipulate their properties by combining different materials in a wide variety of macromolecular architectures. The development of novel polymeric materials is guided by the goal of improving patient survival and quality of life by increasing the bioavailability of drug to the site of disease, targeting delivery to the pathological tissues, increasing drug solubility, and minimizing systemic side effects. Polymersomes (vesicles) are the only type of polymeric nanocarriers that can physically encapsulate at the same nanoparticle hydrophilic drugs in their aqueous interior and/or hydrophobic agents within their lamellar membranes. Polymersomes have been shown to possess superior biomaterial properties compared to liposomes, including greater stability and storage capabilities, as well as prolonged circulation time.
Keywords: Nanoparticles; Nanotechnology; Pancreatic cancer; Polymersomes; Polypeptides; Ring-opening polymerization.