Diamonds, Digital Health, and Drug Development: Optimizing Combinatorial Nanomedicine.
The field of nanomedicine has already seen substantial progress in the clinic, with multiple formulations being evaluated through clinical studies. From poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) and cyclodextrin-based drug-delivery platforms to metallic nanoparticles for photothermal treatment and imaging, nanotechnology has enabled versatile strategies to treat and to diagnose a wide range of disorders. However, as the field as a whole pushes forward, barriers that have always challenged conventional drug development have already started to impact nanomedicine translation. These include exorbitant costs, substantial time to development, and the uncertainty of achieving major improvements in efficacy or safety. Of note, there has been, until recent advances, a virtual inability to identify optimal drug doses either as monotherapies or components of combination therapy. In this Nano Focus, we assess how the impact of nanotechnology in the clinic can be optimized through systematically designed combinatorial nanotherapy. In addition, we provide a clinical perspective on how a recently unveiled technology platform can substantially alter the landscape of combinatorial nanomedicine, drug development, as well as conventional drug development.
Division of Oral Biology and Medicine, School of Dentistry, ‡The Jane and Jerry Weintraub Center for Reconstructive Biotechnology, §Department of Bioengineering, Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, ∥California NanoSystems Institute, ⊥Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, #Department of Surgery, Division of Liver and Pancreas Transplantation, David Geffen School of Medicine, and ¶Dumont-UCLA Liver Transplant and Cancer Center, University of California , Los Angeles, California 90095, United States.|Cancer Science Institute of Singapore and ▽Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore , Singapore 117599.
Dean
D
Ho
Division of Oral Biology and Medicine, School of Dentistry, ‡The Jane and Jerry Weintraub Center for Reconstructive Biotechnology, §Department of Bioengineering, Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, ∥California NanoSystems Institute, ⊥Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, #Department of Surgery, Division of Liver and Pancreas Transplantation, David Geffen School of Medicine, and ¶Dumont-UCLA Liver Transplant and Cancer Center, University of California , Los Angeles, California 90095, United States.|Cancer Science Institute of Singapore and ▽Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore , Singapore 117599.
Ali
A
Zarrinpar
Division of Oral Biology and Medicine, School of Dentistry, ‡The Jane and Jerry Weintraub Center for Reconstructive Biotechnology, §Department of Bioengineering, Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, ∥California NanoSystems Institute, ⊥Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, #Department of Surgery, Division of Liver and Pancreas Transplantation, David Geffen School of Medicine, and ¶Dumont-UCLA Liver Transplant and Cancer Center, University of California , Los Angeles, California 90095, United States.|Cancer Science Institute of Singapore and ▽Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore , Singapore 117599.
Edward Kai-Hua
EK
Chow