Pharmaceutical Technology (Huwyler)

The Division of Pharmaceutical Technology, headed by Prof. Dr. Jörg Huwyler, did steadily grow during the past years. The team consists at present of 19 university employed collaborators and 7 external PhD and postgraduate students working in industry and as visiting scientists.

Research is focused on the development of innovative drug delivery and drug targeting strategies using (nano)particulate drug carriers. 

Drug Delivery

Modern drug delivery requires a versatile approach when designing and manufacturing dosage forms. Research in the field of classical pharmaceutical technology is constantly challenged by new targets, new substances, various delivery routes, and manufacturing requirements. Modern pharmaceutical technology combines the use of novel techniques and instruments with biological as well as health-related discoveries. Research projects in the field of drug delivery are combining material science to identify new excipients with modern approaches in formulation design, such as computer-based simulations, and clinical R&D.

Our vision is to propose robust strategies to move towards personalized medicine, age appropriate and safe formulations, and increase in patient’s compliance.

Drug Targeting

Particulate drug carriers can be used to deliver encapsulated drugs to diseased tissues or organs within our body. We have used, for example, ligand conjugated liposomes to target tumors, the kidney, or to achieve transport across the blood-brain barrier. More recently, we have focused on gene delivery to hepatocytes as a promising treatment option for monogenic metabolic diseases. To this end, lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are designed, which are inspired by the lipid composition of enveloped viruses. They comprise ionized or ionizable lipids for DNA complexation and an array of helper lipids for structural integrity, for steric stabilization, and to promote cellular uptake, membrane fusion, and intracellular processing. LNPs are combined with nanovector plasmid DNA constructs, which allow for a lifetime transfection of target cells. Targeting strategies are evaluated using a broad array of physico-chemical and analytical methods in combination with cell culture based in vitro models. Zebrafish embryos are used as a vertebrate screening model to identify well tolerated LNPs with favorable pharmacokinetic properties and a high transfection efficiency in vivo. If successful, this platform technology will be the first step towards a future clinical implementation of LNP based hepatic gene delivery strategies.