Postdoctoral Researcher Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology/Heidelberg University Heidelberg, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
Limited drug delivery to the target organ is one of the major obstacles in drug development. The difficulties in achieving effective concentrations at the target site result in high failure rates of drug candidates. Membrane transporters mediate passage of solutes including drugs, across the cellular membranes and thereby, regulate drug concentrations at the target site, affecting clinical outcomes. A growing knowledge of uptake transporters and their role in drug delivery opens new horizons for their utilization to design and develop transporter-mediated drug delivery strategies. The transporter-mediated drug delivery approach has been investigated in order to improve delivery of drugs across the barrier sites, such as the blood-brain barrier, blood-retina barrier or blood–tumour barrier. Many transporter-utilizing drugs, prodrugs and nanocarriers have been developed; nevertheless, the success rate of their translation from preclinical development to humans is negligible. In this session, we will discuss the recent advances in transporter-targeting drug delivery strategies as well as main challenges and future perspectives. Based on examples of developed transporter-utilizing drugs, prodrugs and nanocarriers of CNS and anti-cancer drugs, we will study the critical steps for rational development of transporter-utilizing drug delivery systems.
Learning Objectives:
Upon completion, participant will be able to understand the main principles of transporter-mediated drug delivery.
Upon completion, participant will be able to use gained knowledge for evaluating the suitability of this drug delivery strategy to improve delivery of a particular drug.
Upon completion, participant will be able to rationally design the studies for evaluation of transporter-mediated drug delivery efficacy.