Crystal Lake, Ill. — AptarGroup, Inc. and Massachusetts General Hospital have entered a research collaboration aimed at developing a predictive, data-driven platform for nose-to-brain drug delivery.
The collaboration, led by Alice Stanton, Ph.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital, will combine in vitro, in vivo and computational approaches to study the mechanisms, pathways and kinetics involved in transporting drugs from the nasal cavity directly to the brain.
Researchers plan to evaluate a range of molecular classes and physicochemical properties to better determine which drug candidates may be suitable for nose-to-brain delivery.
“Through this study, we will profile the intranasal pathway to the brain and develop a tool to mimic this route, towards robust and non-invasive delivery of medicines that may otherwise be stopped by the blood-brain barrier or impeded by absorption in other tissues. The ability to provide effective drug delivery to the brain via the nose could catalyze an inflection point for disease treatments,” said Alice Stanton, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Investigator in the Center for Genomic Medicine at Massachusetts General Brigham and Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School.
Interest in direct nose-to-brain delivery has grown as researchers seek new ways to treat neurological and central nervous system disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and depression.
The partners aim to develop a New Approach Methodology, or NAM, that could be used to screen compounds for their suitability for nose-to-brain delivery during drug development. The platform is also expected to help guide formulation and device design decisions.
Aptar said the work will incorporate its nasal drug delivery systems, including its Cerespray™ and Neurospray™ platforms, which are designed to target the upper nasal cavity.
“Interest in nose-to-brain delivery has accelerated significantly in recent years, yet one of the most common questions we hear from pharmaceutical innovators is whether a specific molecule is truly suitable for this pathway,” said Reenal Gandhi, Global Business Development Director at Aptar Pharma. “Our goal is to transform nose-to-brain delivery from a promising concept into a more predictable and data-driven development pathway, helping pharmaceutical innovators evaluate opportunities earlier and accelerate future CNS pipelines.”
The collaboration combines Aptar’s experience in nasal drug delivery technologies with research from the Stanton Lab, which works across neurogenetics, cell biology, nanotechnology, machine learning, microfluidics, biomaterials engineering and tissue-engineered organoid systems.
