Moderator: Randy Mrsny, Ph.D., Professor, University of Bath

Panel members: Justin Hanes, Ph.D., Professor, Johns Hopkins University
Ralph Niven, Ph.D., Novartis R&D
Siddhesh Patil, Ph.D., Takeda
Mark Tomai, Ph.D., 3M

Key objectives:

• Addressing the key challenges of large molecule delivery: physical, physiological & biochemical barriers
• The promise of alternate methods of delivery for patients and improved outcomes
• Building research collaboration networks 

Description:

Biological therapies, such as proteins and peptides, have revolutionized the medical treatment landscape and promise to continue shaping it in the future. New technologies to produce, purify, and characterize these materials have led to their successful development as new medicines. Optimal benefit of these materials, however, is predicated on patient adoption and use; to date this has typically involved their injection. Recent advances in non-invasive delivery strategies provide a critical step to overcome the challenges of patient access and compliance that involve cold-chain, patient compliance, and efficacy issues. Multi-disciplinary partnerships between academics, which interface with industrial partners and clinical programs, are becoming an increasingly attractive mechanism to accelerate the identification and advancement of improved basic biological understanding into translational outcomes. The Non-invasive Macromolecule Delivery Consortium (NMDC) represents just such a mechanism.