Nano-enabled nasal spray

Nano-enabled nasal spray for osteoporosis

Professor Alan Perkins of the Division of Radiological and Imaging Sciences is collaborating with University of Nottingham colleagues on a £545,000 project with Critical Pharmaceuticals, a  University of Nottingham spin-out company, to develop a nano-enabled intranasal formulation of teriparatide for the treatment of osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis affects an estimated 75 million people in Europe, US and Japan with more than 180,000 patients suffer fragility fractures in the UK alone each year, at a cost of around £2 billion to the NHS.

Teriparatide is a well-regarded addition to the range of drugs used for the treatment of osteoporosis, but it currently needs to be injected every day. The consortium will exploit a recent discovery in nanotechnology to develop a nasal spray formulation of teriparatide that is easy to administer by patients and provides optimal drug plasma levels to enhance efficacy.

The University of Nottingham has world-leading expertise in clinical and basic research in osteoporosis, geriatric care, bone pathophysiology and medical imaging. The use of University expertise for imaging drug deposition and clearance will greatly enhance the development of this formulation.

This project will draw on interdisciplinary collaborative research from international experts Dr Richard Pearson (Division of Orthopaedic & Accident Surgery) and Professor Tahir Masud (Geriatric Medicine) as well as Professor Perkins.
 
The Technology Strategy Board and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are supporting this project with grant funding as part of their investment in nanoscale technology-enabled solutions in healthcare.