Bridging the gap to clinical applications – Center for Translational Nanomedicine (CTN)

Prof. Dr. Volker Mailänder Prof. Dr. Katharina Landfester

The Max-Planck-Institute for Polymer Research (MPIP) and the University Medicine of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz joined forces to create an interdisciplinary center to bring innovative drug delivery systems to the clinic. This bridges the gap between medical need and excellent basic science. Nanocarrier research is focused on altering the body distribution of drugs such that lower doses can be used. This results in lower side effects and/or higher effectiveness. Classical pharmaceutical approaches as well as novel immune modulating agents to treat cancer and (auto)immune diseases like rheumatitis are the focus of the CTN.

Aims:

identify medical needs from applications in clinical use
translate the medical need into a scientific question
understand opportunities and obstacles of nanocarriers in the complex biological surrounding of blood plasma and in whole organisms
to develop a process which uses pharmaceutical grade excipients that can be transformed into a good-manufacturing-production (GMP) process
develop assays for testing of nanocarriers during production and for a batch-to-batch release
perform the crucial in vivo studies for effectiveness and toxicology
transform this towards a process performed in a small-medium enterprise (SME)

For more information see the CTN Homepage