Harnessing Technological Advances to Re-engineer Polymer Particles for Drug Delivery

利用技术进步重新设计用于药物输送的聚合物颗粒

• 批准号: RGPIN-2022-04910
• 负责人: Allen, Christine
• 金额: $ 4.01万
• 依托单位: University of Toronto
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=762140
• 关键词: Harnessing; Technological; Advances; Re; engineer

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the operations of scientific laboratories around the globe. Ironically, at the same time it is science and medicine that are leading us out of this pandemic. In fact, advanced pharmaceutical formulation is amongst the key areas that have played a critical role in the fight against COVID-19. The two clinically approved mRNA vaccines are reliant on formulation in lipid-based nanoparticles. This success has brought renewed interest in lipid and polymer particle-based formulation strategies. Pharmaceutical formulation involves combining drugs with inactive materials to produce products with desirable properties. Through formulation, pharmaceutical scientists can engineer important properties of new medicines, such as reduced side effects and improved therapeutic efficacy. Polymers are materials that can be used for drug formulation. Polymers bring unparalleled diversity owing to the ability to synthesize innovative materials. Yet, to date the potential of polymer-based nano and microparticles for applications in drug formulation has not been fully exploited. This is in part due to the fact that there are a wide range of polymer properties and manufacturing parameters that must be considered in the development of nano or microparticle-based drug formulations. Further, the design - build - test loop associated with nano and microparticle development is largely reliant on hands on experimentation. Thus, full consideration of the impact of each polymer property or manufacturing parameter, and their combinations, on the characteristics and performance of drug formulations has been near to impossible to fully explore. The goal of the proposed research program is to capitalize on recent technological advancements in artificial intelligence, machine learning, microfluidics and experimental automation to pursue data driven development pathways for polymeric nano and microparticle-based drug formulations. Over the past decade AI has enabled ground-breaking advances in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors, including improvements in drug discovery and cancer diagnosis. Machine learning is a branch of artificial intelligence, that enables computers to learn tasks without the need to be explicitly programmed. The proposed research aims to harness this technology to enable faster and cheaper design of more effective medicines for the treatment of chronic diseases with a high prevalence in women, including ovarian and breast cancer, osteoarthritis, and dementia. This research builds on areas of research strength and recent economic investment in Canada, namely, artificial intelligence and machine learning, manufacturing, and the biotech/pharmaceutical industry. As a result, this program will provide trainees with the knowledge and interdisciplinary skills necessary to secure leadership positions at the intersection between these growing industry sectors.

COVID-19大流行对全球科学实验室的运作提出了挑战。具有讽刺意味的是，与此同时，科学和医学使我们脱离了这一大流行。实际上，先进的药物配方是在与Covid-19斗争中发挥关键作用的关键领域之一。两种经临床认可的mRNA疫苗依赖于脂质基纳米颗粒的制剂。这种成功引起了人们对脂质和聚合物颗粒的配方策略的新兴趣。药物配方涉及将药物与非活性材料相结合，以生产具有理想特性的产品。通过配方，药物科学家可以设计新药物的重要特性，例如副作用降低和改善治疗功效。 聚合物是可用于药物制剂的材料。由于合成创新材料的能力，聚合物带来了无与伦比的多样性。然而，迄今为止，基于聚合物的纳米和微粒在药物制剂中的应用的潜力尚未得到充分利用。这部分是由于以下事实：在基于纳米或微颗粒的药物配方的开发中，必须考虑多种聚合物特性和制造参数。此外，与纳米和微粒发育相关的设计 - 构建 - 测试环在很大程度上依赖于实验。因此，完全考虑每个聚合物特性或制造参数的影响及其组合对药物制剂的特征和性能，几乎无法完全探索。 拟议的研究计划的目的是利用人工智能，机器学习，微流体和实验自动化的最新技术进步，以追求数据驱动的基于数据驱动的开发途径和基于微粒的药物配方。在过去的十年中，AI在药物和医疗保健领域取得了突破性的进步，包括改善药物发现和癌症诊断。机器学习是人工智能的一个分支，它使计算机能够学习任务而无需明确编程。拟议的研究旨在利用这项技术，使更有效的药物更快，更便宜地设计，以治疗女性，包括卵巢癌和乳腺癌，骨关节炎和痴呆症在内的慢性疾病。这项研究以研究实力和加拿大最近的经济投资领域为基础，即人工智能和机器学习，制造业以及生物技术/制药行业。结果，该计划将为受训者提供在这些不断发展的行业领域交汇处确保领导职务所需的知识和跨学科技能。