Cardiovascular diseases, such as myocardial infarct and heart failure account for more than 30% of deaths globally, costing ~€190bn in European healthcare.
The chronic treatment of patients leads only to short-term benefits since the conventional therapies show several weak points.
The available drug-delivery methods, oral and intravenous, allow the drug to circulate systematically in the blood stream causing several side-effects and reducing its efficacy.
Later, during the end-stages of the disease, the administration might become even more invasive, employing catheters or implantable pumps.
As a result, there is a need to develop patient-friendly therapeutic strategies that are more efficient, safe and heart-specific.
Nemera is now contribute to the EU-funded project Cupido (Cardio Ultraefficient nanoParticles for Inhalation of Drug prOducts), started in February 2017.
The company proposes the application of nanotechnologies to the cardiovascular field.
Nanoparticles
Cupido aims to develop inhalable nanoparticles to deliver a simple-as-breathing therapeutic directly to the heart.
Nanoparticles are almost 1 million times smaller than a grain of sand, far too small to see with conventional microscopes. Exploiting such a tiny system as a route of administration could revolutionise the cardiovascular field, becoming the first non-invasive and heart-specific therapeutic approach.
The Cupido consortium is working to develop biocompatible and biodegradable nanoparticles that can self-assemble and encapsulate drugs in a suitable format for the treatment of cardiovascular disease.
The nanoparticles, once inhaled, will translocate through the lungs and reach the heart quickly, where the drug will be finally released on the site of interest.
The direct targeting of the heart will be ensured thanks to chemical and magnetic guidance, reducing the chances of adverse side effects and lowering the required amounts of therapeutic compound.
The consortium
The EU-based consortium, composed of six academic research groups, five SMEs, two industries and one pharmaceutical company, joins research with pre-clinical experience and industrial manufacturing.
The four-year project, funded with €6m under the EU Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, aims to proof the preclinical feasibility of the nanotherapy, preparing the way for future clinical trials.
The role of Nemera in this consortium will be the development of the devices for the administration of the nanoparticules by inhalation to the heart.