Externally-activatable Cork-shell Capsules for On-demand Targeted Drug Delivery

Background

Advanced drug delivery systems – such as biodegradable injectable formulations – can enhance treatment results by improving the effectiveness of therapy, reducing toxicity, and boosting patient adherence. However, many of these drug delivery strategies still release drugs too rapidly, reducing therapeutic longevity; furthermore, many current strategies are not compatible with emerging biologics/drugs. Therefore, new drug delivery vehicles that allow precise control over drug release, including hydrophilic or biologic-based drugs, are needed.

Technology Overview

Researchers at McMaster have developed an ultrasound-triggered cork-shell capsule/particle drug delivery system that can control the release kinetics of therapeutic drugs without causing cellular damage. This capsule is composed of a complex shell component that holds the therapeutic payload and incorporates “cork” particles that can be designed to either vibrate or pop out in response to ultrasound. This creates dynamic pores in the shell (reversibly or non-reversibly) that allow for the therapeutic payload to be released in a tunable and controlled manner.

Benefits

• On-demand control of payload release kinetics
• Composed of generic, FDA-approved materials
• Can deliver multiple types of payloads at once
• Well-suited for delivery of expensive or dangerous therapeutics, such as chemotherapy drugs, or proteins

Applications

Controlled release of:

• Small molecule drugs
• Hydrophilic drugs
• Biologics
• Imaging agents (e.g. in medical imaging, molecular diagnostics or biosensing)

Opportunity

McMaster University is seeking partners for technology licensing opportunities and research collaboration.