PATCH: An Innovative Transdermal Heart-targeted Drug Delivery Strategy

Overview

Project Summary

Despite the significant scientific and clinical progresses witnessed in the last years cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, accounting for 17.9 million deaths every year. These numbers are expected to increase, imposing a huge economic burden on health care systems. To counteract this negative tendency, more effective preventive and therapeutic strategies are imperative. In this context, plant metabolites, namely monoterpenes, have emerged as promising cardioprotective agents with strong pre-clinical evidences corroborating these effects. 

However, translation to the clinic remains limited mainly due to their volatility and low stability, which compromise bioavailability and therapeutic usage in clinical settings. Therefore, we designed the PATCH proposal to develop an innovative strategy to effectively deliver monoterpenes to the heart. A breakthrough approach using functionalized plant derived vesicles (PDVs), with a heart homing peptide, will be used to carry the active molecules directly to the target site, the heart. This will greatly improve monoterpenes bioavailability by guarantying their efficient delivery, reducing the needed therapeutic dose and protecting off-target organs. 

Project Details