Biologic Delivery Systems: From Discovery to Clinical Application

摘要

Over the past decade we have explored the development of polysaccharide and proteinbased delivery systems for the treatment of life threatening disease states such as diabetes and cancer. The intraperitoneal injection of insulin producing islets, immunoprotected by an alginate-polyamino acid membrane (microencapsulated islets) is a potential method of reversing diabetes without the need for lifelong immunosuppression. Biodegradagble protein (albumin) nanospheres provide a novel delivery system for water-insoluble cytotoxic agents such as paclitaxel. In this report we present the evolution of these technologies from discovery to clinical application.