Nanotechnology offers great potential benefits for drug delivery and therapy of respiratory and systemic diseases. Nanoparticles have been of significant interest for some time because they can be designed to simultaneously carry a drug payload, specifically target features of diseased tissues, and carry an imaging molecule to track drug accumulation and clearance in tissues. Moreover, they can be engineered to tailor drug delivery and improve pharmacokinetics. A variety of Nanoparticles have been investigated in experimental animal models as tools to improve the delivery and therapeutic efficacy of drugs or genes delivered to the lung or other organ systems. The nanotechnology platform for drug delivery contains a number of very different types of nanostructures with widely varying properties. Examples of these Nanoparticles include dendrimers, fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and polymeric Nanoparticles. In contrast to developing completely new drug compounds, introducing upgraded formulations greatly reduces the risk, time and capital invested in new drug development. Nanoparticle drug delivery technology can enable reformulation of existing drugs to increase product lifecycle, increase profitability, expand intellectual property estate and discourage competition during a drug’s most valuable years.
