Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are primed to revolutionize modern medicine. But the field is still in its infancy, and there are a number of challenges yet to overcome to unlock the full potential of LNPs.
The best-known variant of "lipid-based drug delivery systems" is the so-called lipid nanoparticle. In the second part of our LBDDS blog series, we will first provide an overview of the developmental history of LNPs and the "endosomal escape" – a crucial point in the transport pathway of LNPs. We will then go into the potential medical applications of LNPs – all the way to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination!
Lipid-based drug delivery systems (LBDDS) have been studied and developed since the 1960s. In 2020, this technology received a lot of attention due to its application in SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. In this first part of our LBDDS two-parter, we will focus on the structure and composition of lipid-based drug delivery systems and the different types of LBDDS. In addition to their application in mRNA vaccines, there are other possible uses for LBDDS, some of which we would like to introduce here.