Multifunctionalized nanoparticles for cancer diagnosis and treatment

The patented nanoparticles are focussed in the integration of diagnosis and therapy in one nanodevice, so called theragnosis. This approach enables the diagnosis together with the treatment and monitoring of treatment efficiency and disease progress at the same time. These nanoparticles are conjugated with the following agents:

• A tumour-specific ligand refers to any molecule, particularly any peptide, which is tumour-specific of the tumour to be treated or diagnosed. This ligand is conjugated to the surface of the nanoparticle.
• An imaging trackerrefers to any agent that can be used for monitoring the efficacy of the treatment or the diagnosis.
• Drug/s to treat the tumour

Unlike nanoparticles for theragnostic known in the prior art, where the drug and the imaging tracker are heterogeneously encapsulated inside the particle, the controlled multi-functionalization of our nanoparticles allows tuning the ratio between the amounts of each one of the components: the drug, the ligand and the diagnostic agent. This fact increases dramatically the possibilities of developing more effective nanodevices for controlled released and monitoring in real time.

The benefits and advantages of this technology are:

• Multifunctional tool.The nanoparticles of the invention allow the integration into a single therapeutic agent of the following abilities:

Diagnosisdue to the imaging tracker

Treating cancer, thanks to the therapeutic payload

Monitoring the efficacy of the treatment

• Active tumour-targeting. The tumour-specific ligand increases the retention and accumulation of nanoparticles in the tumour resulting in an efficient and selective internalization in the tumour cells. This allows:

Improvement in the therapeutic efficacy.

Reduction of anticancer drug toxicity. Administering drugs locally rather than systemically (affecting the whole body) is a common way to decrease side effects.

• Versatile therapeutic agents.The nanoparticles can diagnose and treat different types of cancer by changing the imaging tracker and the drug respectively (personalized medicine).
• Stable nanoparticles with an efficient cancer cell internalization

Current development status

Experimental technologies

Desired business relationship

Patent licensing