The ETPN is very proud and happy to share today our latest publication in the Journal of Controlled Release : “Delivering the power of nanomedicine to patients today”. This common position paper in open access is the best way to learn more about the real potential of Nanomedicine to concretely change the life of millions of patients worldwide, how nanomedicine is improving their therapeutic outcomes, the reality of its current translation to the clinic with some recent great success for smarter drug delivery, and the action of the ETPN to create the best possible innovation-friendly ecosystem in Europe to mobilize the full community of Nanomedicine & address better and faster complex pharmacological and medical challenges to tackle.

Download your copy of the article.

Please download your full copy of the latest ETPN position paper in JRC by clicking on this link.

Highligths

• Nanomedicine unquestionably makes a difference for patients.
• Innovative nanomedicines open perspectives to make a difference outside oncology.
• High need for a harmonized international regulatory framework for nanomedicines.
• Nanomedicine is a cross-sectorial and cross-technological solution for healthcare.

Abstract

The situation of the COVID-19 pandemic reminds us that we permanently need high-value flexible solutions to urgent clinical needs including simplified diagnostic technologies suitable for use in the field and for delivering targeted therapeutics. From our perspective nanotechnology is revealed as a vital resource for this, as a generic platform of technical solutions to tackle complex medical challenges. It is towards this perspective and focusing on nanomedicine that we take issue with Prof Park’s recent editorial published in the Journal of Controlled Release. Prof. Park argued that in the last 15 years nanomedicine failed to deliver the promised innovative clinical solutions to the patients (Park, K. The beginning of the end of the nanomedicine hype. Journal of Controlled Release, 2019; 305, 221–222. We, the ETPN (European Technology Platform on Nanomedicine), respectfully disagree. In fact, the more than 50 formulations currently in the market, and the recent approval of 3 key nanomedicine products (e. g. Onpattro, Hensify and Vyxeos), have demonstrated that the nanomedicine field is concretely able to design products that overcome critical barriers in conventional medicine in a unique manner, but also to deliver within the cells new drug-free therapeutic effects by using pure physical modes of action, and therefore make a difference in patients lives. Furthermore, the >400 nanomedicine formulations currently in clinical trials are expecting to bring novel clinical solutions (e.g. platforms for nucleic acid delivery), alone or in combination with other key enabling technologies to the market, including biotechnologies, microfluidics, advanced materials, biomaterials, smart systems, photonics, robotics, textiles, Big Data and ICT (information & communication technologies) more generally. However, we agree with Prof. Park that “ it is time to examine the sources of difficulty in clinical translation of nanomedicine and move forward “. But for reaching this goal, the investments to support clinical translation of promising nanomedicine formulations should increase, not decrease. As recently encouraged by EMA in its roadmap to 2025, we should create more unity through a common knowledge hub linking academia, industry, healthcare providers and hopefully policy makers to reduce the current fragmentation of the standardization and regulatory body landscape. We should also promote a strategy of cross-technology innovation, support nanomedicine development as a high value and low-cost solution to answer unmet medical needs and help the most promising innovative projects of the field to get better and faster to the clinic. This global vision is the one that the ETPN chose to encourage for the last fifteen years. All actions should be taken with a clear clinical view in mind, “ without any fanfare”, to focus “on what matters in real life”, which is the patient and his/her quality of life.

This ETPN overview of achievements in nanomedicine serves to reinforce our drive towards further expanding and growing the maturity of nanomedicine for global healthcare, accelerating the pace of transformation of its great potential into tangible medical breakthroughs.

Features of the article

1. Introduction
2. How nanomedicine is improving therapeutic outcomes
3. The new generation of nanomedicine who made it to the market
4. Who’s next? Innovative formulations in pre-clinical and clinical development
5. The direction of cancer nanomedicine
6. Nanomedicine is not only focusing on cancer
7. Nanomedicine: A platform for designing better medical solutions
8. Nanomedicine: Clinical success rate
9. Addressing the gaps to accelerate nanomedicine translation into the clinic
10. The need for a harmonized international regulatory framework for regulating physical-chemical and biological   characterization of nanomedicines.
11. Nanomedicine as a cross-sectoral and cross-technological solution for healthcare.
12. Conclusion.

Authors list

(from left to right and top to bottom)

• Matthieu Germain – CEO of Curadigm, Chair of ETPN WG nanotherapeutics and targeted delivery
• Fanny Caputo – Research Engineer at SINTEF, Chair of the ETPN WG on Safety & Characterization
• Su Metcalf – CEO of LIFNanoRx, University of Cambridge, Vice-Chair of ETPN WG on nanotherapeutics and targeted delivery
• Giovanni Tosi – Assistant Prof. at University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Vice-Chair of ETPN WG on nanotherapeutics and targeted delivery
• Kathleen Spring, Program Manager at Bioanalytik Munster – Secretary of the ETPN Association
• Andreas K.O. Åslund – Researcher at SINTEF , Vice-Chair of ETPN WG on nanotherapeutics and targeted delivery
• Agnes Pottier – Former Head of Discovery at Nanobiotix, Vice-Chair of the ETPN
• Raymond Schiffelers – Professor of nanomedicine at UMC Utrecht – Vice-Chair of the ETPN
• Alexandre Ceccaldi – General Secretary of the ETPN Assocciation
• Ruth Schmid – VP marketing at SINTEF – Chair of the ETPN

We really hope you will enjoy this position paper of the ETPN about Nanomedicine in JRC!