“Drugs should be designed with delivery in mind (and vice versa)”
Abstract: Effective delivery of drugs to therapeutic targets requires an understanding of biological barriers, transport in vivo, physicochemical properties of drug molecules, and formulation. Basic principles have emerged for oral and intravenous drug design, but fewer efforts have aimed to create drugs that persist at the administration site or molecular structures that promote drainage to regional lymphatic networks. Our efforts to overcome these challenges will be presented, including development of pharmaceutical aerosols that persist in mucus to eradicate pathogens; design of soluble antigen arrays (SAgAs) to promote the drainage of autoantigens to secondary lymphoid organs to induce immune tolerance in mouse models of multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes; and design of immunostimulants that persist in tumor tissue after intratumoral/perilesional injection. These examples underscore the need for rational design of drug molecules or formulations based upon the route of delivery and biological barriers encountered.
Bio: Cory Berkland received MS and PhD degrees from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and a BS from Iowa State University in Ames. His lab studies pharmaceuticals and biomaterials with a particular emphasis on molecular design and transport in the human body. Prof. Berkland is a co-founder of Orbis Biosciences (purchased by Adare Pharmaceuticals), Savara Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SVRA), Bond Biosciences, and Orion BioScience.
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