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European Pharmaceutical Students’ Association
Development of nanomedicine strategies to target coronavirus Author: Abanoub Soliman Scientific Coordinator: Dr. Ahmed Faheem Institution: University of Sunderland
INTRODUCTION: Early in the 21st century, Covid-19, a viral respiratory tract infection that is induced by SARS-CoV-2, has caused a public health emergency. Unlike bacteria, viruses enter host cells and take advantage of the cell machineries to replicate and cause infection. It makes such nonliving viral microbes a challenging target for therapeutics, as they hide within the cell. The current treatment relies on symptom relief using antipyretic medicine combined with nonpharmacological management, while allowing the body to fight the pathogen. The optimum approach is the prevention of the viral invasion by clearing the virus before it causes infection and subsequently target the virus’s replication steps within the cell. The use of targeted drug delivery method through the implication of nanomedicine to minimize off-target unwanted effects and maximise therapeutic efficacy has a substantial impact on targeting Covid-19. AIM: The earliest and critical point of intervention is the prophylaxis of infection by achieving immunization prior to viral invasion. This review will evaluate the effectiveness of packaging vaccines into nanocarriers to assist their targeted delivery to antigen presenting cells. DNA and mRNA segments encoding for the spike protein are used, mimicking the virus, to produce antibodies. The susceptibility of these strands to degradation manifests the use of nanotechnology to provide a protective shield and facilitate delivery. Afterwards, this review will evaluate the repurposing of existing therapeutics, which is primordial to treat the infection. However, several biological and pharmacological limitations that interrupt the delivery of such therapeutic agents urge the unmet medical need to incorporate nanomedicine strategies to assist their successful internalisation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Five articles were selected, upon an advanced search, performed on different databases, including PubMed, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and several websites, such as that of Pfizer, Moderna and the WHO, as per the PRISMA guidelines. Some limiting criteria were used to filter the citations identified, along with
exclusion tools to narrow the initial search to the significance of the use of nanotechnology to target coronavirus. Human clinical trials data were included to assess the efficiency of the novel formulations. RESULTS: Several biotech companies presented vaccine candidates and reformulated anti-viral drugs with promising outcomes, shown in the table below. CONCLUSION: Some vaccine candidates gained emergency authorisation, such as Moderna and Pfizer, which consist of biocompatible lipid-based nanoparticles. Further, the use of nanomedicine to guide the repurposing of currently approved antiviral drugs has shown prospering outcomes, as Remdesivir has massively accelerated patient recovery. The vaccines’ very low storage temperature requirement limits their transportation and distribution. Future research is required to consider modifications in their pharmaceutical formulation to accommodate such limitations, while maintaining stability and efficacy. Also, further alterations in the formulation could allow their delivery through the nasal cavity promising strong immunity.
