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Small Molecules
Small molecules make up the majority of current pharmaceuticals and are used to treat and manage symptoms of cancer, infections, and depression, among others.
Applications of nanomedicine for small molecule drugs include:
• Drug targeting
• Controlled release
• Improving solubility
• Combination therapy
Small molecule drugs can be formulated into numerous nanoparticle materials. On the market, there are several liposomal formulations of small molecules including Doxil and Visudyne.
Liposomes
Polymer NPs and Micelles
Emulsions
There are however some challenges to producing small molecule-loaded nanoparticles that can be addressed with NanoAssemblr® technology.
Overcome Key Challenges in Making Drug Delivery Nanoparticles
| Challenges with Conventional Methods | Benefits of NanoAssemblr® Technology | |
| Formulation affected by production conditions |  | Precisely controlled formulation conditions |
| Production is complex and time-consuming | | Rapid formulation development |
| Difficult to scale-up production | | Inherently scalable |
| Different formulations require different process and equipment | | Produce a variety of formulations |
Precisely Controlled Formulation Conditions
Laminar flow microfluidic conditions with computer-controlled fluid flow allow conditions of particle precipitation to be precisely controlled.
PEG-b-PLGA block copolymer micelles of identical size were produced on the NanoAssemblr® Benchtop from polymers of different PLGA block lengths. Typically changing block lengths affect particle size, making it difficult to compare the drug delivery performance of these materials.
With conventional methods, it is difficult to adjust the formulation conditions to produce uniform sizes with different polymers. By contrast, with NanoAssemblr® technology Total Flow Rate (TFR) was adjusted in software to equalize the size of these formulations. The size was determined by DLS of triplicate formulations.
Rapid Formulation Development
Drug loading and particle formation can be performed simultaneously in one step at flow rates typically greater than 10 mL/min. All NanoAssemblr® instruments are intuitive to use requiring no prior experience with microfluidics.
Simultaneous drug loading and liposome formation were performed for 4 liposome formulations at a Total Flow Rate of 12 ml/min using a model hydrophobic
small molecule drug verteporfin. This enabled rapid identification and optimization of lead formulations.
Inherently Scalable
The NanoAssemblr® process is continuous
and can be scaled by flowing more volume through the system, or by using multiple microfluidic mixers in parallel.
Liposome formulations were optimized on the Benchtop and scaled up on the Blaze using a single microfluidic mixer and on the
GMP System employing 8 mixers in parallel with identical
results. Size and PDI were measured by DLS of triplicate formulations.
Produce a Variety of Formulations
Over 100 papers have demonstrated production of liposomes, polymer NPs,
Small Molecule Resources
Publication - Summary
February 07, 2019
Nano Research
Publication - Abstract
August 11, 2021
Advanced Science
Publication - Abstract
April 08, 2021
Nanomaterials
Publication - Abstract
March 15, 2021
Acta Biomaterilia
Publication - Abstract
January 08, 2021
Scientific Reports
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