Tackling this range of cancers is one of
the challenges of the work undertaken for the Nanother project. Despite the sophisticated multifunctionality of
the
polymeric nanoparticles, the synthesis approaches are quite simple. In contrast while significant progress has been made, attaching the antibodies to specifically target the cancer cells can still be tricky. “Another problem we have is that the currently used drugs for cancer therapy have quite high hydrophobicity — they don’t like water,” he adds. As the body fluids are water based, the drugs are normally administered mixed with something to make them more soluble. However these added components tend to be quite toxic. Finding ways around the use of these toxic additives is another important goal. The nanoparticles developed in the Nanother project may help overcome this problem as they are water-soluble and can be used as carriers for such hydrophobic drugs. The researchers have worked on
toxicology studies, and have developed a workflow that can be followed by pharmaceutical companies to judge the toxicity of a system. “It’s a way of doing things to set the toxicology or toxicity
of either drugs or
nanoparticles.” The application of this toxicology analysis work reaches far beyond the scope of cancer research. “It is now a very important field in Europe because there are no regulations for nanotoxicology.” The project is extremely
multidisciplinary and a number of partners different
are aspects
involved, working of
the on research.
Nanother originated as just three groups, before they began searching for other
PROJECT PARTNERS:
• Fundacion GAIKER • Tel-Aviv University • Pharmamar S.A.U • Feyecon Development and Implementation B.V
• Consorzio Interuniversitario Nazionale per la Scienza e Tecnologia dei Materiali (INSTM)
• Ahava - Dead Sea Laboratories Ltd. • Fundacion Centro De Tecnologias de Interaccion Visual y Comunicaciones - Vicomtech
• COLOROBBIA Italia S.p.A.
• Asociación Centro de Investigación Cooperativa en Biociencias CICbioGUNE
• Commission of the European Communities – Directorate General Joint Research Centre – JRC
• HAMELN rds a.s. • Institut Polytechnique de Bordeaux • Technological Educational Institute of Athens
• Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2 • NUOVOPROBE Ltd. • Argus chemicals srl • ALMA Consulting Group
www.projectsmagazine.eu.com
groups for different aspects of the project. “It was a very active search for partners,” he recalls. He emphasises the importance of the collaboration between research and technology development centres, companies and universities. “This is something that is not usually very easy to obtain.” The project has been funded for 4 years
and ended on the 31st August 2012. While it is beyond the scope of these research projects to bring actual products to the pharmacy — it can take pharmaceutical companies a further 10 years to reach this stage — some significant advances have been made. “We have found new ways of preparing nanoparticles for biomedicine; we have tested both in vitro using cell cultures and in vivo in mice,” lists Dr Heredia. “And the nanoparticles in vitro are selective for targeting and treating and killing cancer cells.” As the body is a much more complex system some of the in vivo results require more work. However they have obtained one multifunctional polymersome nanoparticle that could be used for diagnosis of bone cancer in vivo (seems to work relatively well in mice). They have also built software for use when imaging tumours with the nanoparticles for the diagnosis of bone cancer. Dr Heredia is very clear in all their
communications that no broad cure to eradicate cancer has been found. Such a cure is
fervently sought by sufferers,
their families and everyone who has come in contact with the disease, and he stresses the need to “keep your feet on the ground”. However with the ever- advancing capabilities in nanotechnology, these tiny nanosized particles look set to put up a good fight against one of the Goliaths of medical disease in Europe.
Project Information AT A GLANCE
Project Title: Integration of novel NANOparticle based technology for THERapeutics and diagnosis of different types of cancer. NANOTHER
Project Objective: Nanother intersects biomedical, health and nano industries, and R&D sits at the interface of chemical, biological and physical sciences and engineering. The main Nanother objective is therefore based on the integration of 5 key elements of current technology:
• Nanoparticle functionalisation technology, • Contrast agent & specific antibody diagnostic techniques & imaging equipment,
• Novel drug-delivery & activation systems • New uses for electromagnetic based technology and medical equipment.
• Another important innovation is RNAi technology, and the objective is to investigate the successful formulation and application of nanocarriers including siRNA as the therapeutic agent.
Project Duration and Timing: 48 Months – Start date: 1st September 2008 – End date: 31st August 2012
Project Funding: The Nanother project is supported by the European Commission through the Seventh Framework Programme for Research & Development. Total funding amount: 8.408.483€
Main Contact:
★
Pedro HEREDIA Pedro HEREDIA is the coordinator of the project. He has managed several national projects with more than ten partners. He carried out his PhD at University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU in Spain and his PostDoc at the Imperial College London. He is expert in protein structure and proteomics and also in in vitro toxicology testing using confocal microscopy and citotoxicity assays.
Contact: Tel: 0034 94 6002323 Email:
heredia@gaiker.es Web:
www.gaiker.es
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