Nanoparticle (NP) carriers typically have a diameter less than 100 nm and can be developed from any number of organic or inorganic materials. Many different classes of NPs have been developed or are currently under development for medical applications. These include NPs that can carry drugs or an imaging modality or a combination thereof, and these NPs can be further engineered with targeting moieties for differential delivery of their payload in a cell- or tissue-specific manner. In this regard, therapeutic NP carriers allow for selective and preprogrammed biodistribution of drugs and control over the kinetic of drug release and duration of drug exposure at the target site. Challenges with modern drug therapy include the difficulty in optimizing the pharmaceutical and pharmacologic properties of drugs. Using conventional drug development approaches, it has always been difficult to create safe and efficacious drugs. The use of NP carriers can drastically facilitate the optimization of both pharmaceutical and pharmacologic properties of drugs (ie, solubility, stability, pharmacokinetics, biodistribution, elimination, efficacy, and toxicity), thus improving the odds of success in drug development.
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