[nanoPost] Nanotube Drug Delivery

Company USA

Halloysite is a natural clay material typically used in ceramics. Some clay reserves contain halloysite in the form of naturally occurring nanotubes that are approximately 10-100 nanometers in internal diameter and vary in length from a few hundred nanometers to several micrometers. The company has patented technologies for combining halloysite nanotubes with existing pharmaceuticals for expanded drug delivery options. 

Halloysite nanotubes can be loaded with drugs for sustained release, extending the effective life of drugs as they migrate out of the tubes over time. 

Once loaded, these tubes can also be encapsulated to further influence the rate of elution. This allows for altering the drug release profile and extending the effectiveness of drugs without increasing potency. 

Compared to carbon nanotubes, halloysite nanotubes are far less expensive and have an extraordinarily large surface area. This feature promises significant advantages for drug delivery applications, since surface area contact allows for greater control of drug loading and elution profiles.  

Electromagnetic Activation
Loaded nanotubes can also be combined with our other technologies for non-invasive activation. Our intellectual property includes coating the nanotubes with nanomagnetic material that can subsequently be heated selectively using specific electromagnetic energy. The heating can activate the elution non-invasively, providing elution on demand. The company is currently working to develop encapsulation and triggering technologies to provide elution on demand.

The benefits of using naturally occurring halloysite material for specific drug delivery applications are: longer delivery times, more control of the drug release profile, and improved safety profiles.

This technology can be applied to several product platforms, including transdermal drug delivery (such as skin patches) and drug-loaded wound care products.

Transdermal Patches

Transdermal delivery of drugs is a rapidly growing market. Typically, a linear (zero-order) release rate is most desirable to keep a drug within therapeutic ranges for the duration of its application. Most patches currently have exponential (first-order) release rates, so levels well above the therapeutic range are delivered initially, then the rate of delivery drops over time. Because of this limitation of existing technologies, it is often necessary to load a higher concentration of drug into a patch than is required clinically. 

Loading pharmaceuticals into halloysite nanotubes can enable a more controlled elution profile. This provides several potential benefits:

Safety - Initial concentrations do not need to be as high, eliminating the high initial delivery rate and improving the safety profile, particularly with drugs such as stimulants or hormones.

Uniformity of drug delivery - More uniform delivery can result in better maintenance of the effective clinical dose over time.

Cost efficency - Less drug loading is required per patch, much of which is currently discarded when the patch is removed, which can lead to reduced costs.

Wound Care
Wound care products range from simple bandages to long-term treatments to promote healing and reduce the chances of infection and scarring. The company’s halloysite drug delivery system is designed to offer superior clinical benefits over current wound care systems, especially in the area of burn care.

Drugs loaded into halloysite tubes and embedded into the base layer of a bandage can be released over an extended time period. This increases the duration of drug effectiveness and reduces the frequency with which a bandage needs to be changed. This novel delivery form can provide new dosage formulations with several advantages: 

Safety — linear release ensures maintenance of clinically effective doses

Compliance and ease of use — longer elution times mean fewer bandage changes

Uniformity of drug delivery — elution from halloysite tubes results in a slower, more uniform drug release. 

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