Israeli biotech startup NucleoTech has developed a method to deliver drugs directly to the brain. Nowadays, many brain diseases, including neurodegeneration, stroke, and brain cancer, are poorly treated due to limitations in drug delivery that prevent patients from being treated effectively. The main reason is the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which prevents most therapeutic molecules from reaching the brain – and significantly limits the brain’s therapeutic arsenal.
NucleoTech has developed vectors that deliver a variety of drugs across the BBB, including biologics and RNA-based drugs. With a unique platform for transferring therapeutics across the BBB, the technology allows for non-invasive and significantly more efficient use of existing drugs. Since biologics and RNA-based drugs are generally unable to cross the blood-brain barrier and induce their therapeutic effect, the new technology will pave the way for the use of these drug classes, taking advantage of the many advances in brain diseases.
Nanobodies are used as carrier molecules to deliver therapeutics into the brain through the process of transcytosis. The technique has advantages in terms of molecular size and avoids immunogenicity. In addition, it can be applicable to a variety of drug classes, such as biologics, RNA-based drugs, and small molecules.
This revolutionary technology enables in vivo functional screening to identify effective carrier molecules that overcome the various mechanisms that exclude endothelial cell entry.
Caroline Haïat
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