Research
Scientists develop new ‘magic bullet’ nanomedicine for Acute Lung Injury
Professor Chris Scott from the School of Pharmacy
Researchers in the School of Pharmacy and the Centre for Infection and Immunity were in the headlines recently for a ‘magic bullet’ nanomedicine they have devised which could become the first effective treatment for Acute Lung Injury or ALI, a condition affecting 20 per cent of all patients in intensive care.
There are currently no effective treatments for this serious condition, but in a joint collaboration a team of scientists and clinicians at Queen’s have developed a new drug that could revolutionise clinical management of patients in intensive care units.
Their new drug is a nanoparticle, measuring around one billionth of a metre. The patient can inhale it, taking the drug directly into the lungs and to the point of inflammation. Current treatments are unable to target directly the inflammation and can result in unpleasant side effects.
The research is being led by Professor Chris Scott in the School of Pharmacy who has also been awarded a personal Royal Society Industrial Fellowship Award for drug delivery optimisation for treatment of chronic lung inflammation with GlaxoSmithKline.
The aim of this proposal is to develop nanoparticle formulations of protease inhibitors for evaluation in models of chronic lung inflammation. Chris has a previous track record both in the study of protease biology, inhibitor design and more recently in pulmonary drug delivery nanoparticulate drug delivery systems.
In this current application, it is planned to bring together the expertise of GSK in terms of its inhibitory compounds and animal models of respiratory inflammation, with his expertise to evaluate if the effectiveness of these compounds could be increased through localised pulmonary delivery and controlled release to provide a larger therapeutic window.
Chris is also working on the development of antibody targeted nanoparticles for cancer treatment in collaboration with Dr Dan Longley and Professor Patrick Johnston and colleagues in CCRCB. He is also collaborating with Professor Cliff Taggart from the Centre for Infection and Immunity on the development of novel nanoparticle drug formulations for treatment of lung infection and inflammation funded by an ESPRC grant and on another project on inflammation and toxicity models in collaboration with Astra Zeneca.
