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Nanotechnology, which is the manipulation of molecules on an atomic scale, has been implemented by companies in medicine, with numerous applications in drug discovery, tissue engineering, imaging, and diagnostics. A rapidly growing field, the initial developments in nanomedicine took place at the turn of the century, although the study of nanoparticles such as colloidal gold dates back to the 1890s and early 1900s.
The first-ever nano-drug to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Doxil, is a PEGylated nano-liposome-based drug that has been authorized to treat AIDS-related Kaposi’s sarcoma, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and other solid tumors. Other noticeable approved nano-drugs include Abraxane, Myocet, and the more recently approved Hensify, Nanobiotix’s drug activated by radiotherapy for the treatment of cancer.
As techniques and tools to exploit nanotechnology in the field of healthcare progress, here are eight nanotechnology companies that you should know about.
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Sona Nanotech
Canadian biotech Sona Nanotech began as a research project into gold nanorods, which at the time were considered toxic to be administered to the body as they contained the cytotoxin cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). Having figured out a way to develop non-toxic gold nanorods, Sona Nanotech now integrates nanotechnology with therapeutics and medtech.
Its chemically-synthesized gold nanorods are rod-shaped, varying from ten to 100 nanometers in length, and can be conjugated to different molecules. These nanorods are used for photothermal therapy, tumor-targeting activity, antibacterial activity, and as a drug delivery vehicle. In a preclinical skin cancer study, the nanorod-based cancer therapy Targeted Hyperthermia helped shrink tumors as well as stimulated the innate immune system to target and eliminate untreated tumors when combined with immunotherapy.
At present, Sona is doing safety studies to ensure it can go into the clinic. To support this effort, the nanotechnology company closed a $1.64 million private placement financing in September 2024.
Nanobiotix
On a mission to overcome the dosing challenges posed by radiotherapy, French nanotherapy company Nanobiotix is developing a first-in-class radioenhancer called NBTXR3. It has been designed to heighten the energy deposited by radiotherapy in cancer cells to aid in tumor cell death while not affecting healthy cells.
NBTXR3 is made up of hafnium oxide particles around 50 nanometers in size and coated with negatively charged molecules. It is administered directly into the tumor cells, making it a form of precision medicine. When it becomes activated in tumor cells, it is said to work nine times better than radiotherapy alone. The candidate is undergoing a phase 3 trial for head and neck cancer in collaboration with pharma giant Janssen, to whom it granted a worldwide license for the development and commercialization of NBTXR3.
In a phase 1/2 study, the candidate was found to improve tumor response, and the number of patients who achieved a complete response was higher in the NBTXR3 plus radiotherapy cohort compared with those in the treatment cohort with radiotherapy alone. NBTXR3 was also found to have a favorable safety profile.
The latest clinical data showed that there was a 48% overall response rate (ORR) in anti-PD-1 naïve patients with head and neck cancer, a 28% ORR in anti-PD-1 resistant patients, a 76% disease control rate (DCR) in naïve patients and a 68% DCR in resistant patients.
Nanobiotix has also formed an alliance with the MD Anderson Cancer Center in the U.S. to expand treatment options for head and neck, and lung cancers with NBTXR3.
Cour Pharmaceuticals
Focused on reprogramming the immune system to address immune-mediated diseases, U.S.-based Cour Pharmaceuticals’ lead candidate is being developed to treat myasthenia gravis, a chronic autoimmune disease that causes muscle weakness. Around 150 to 200 out of every million people have myasthenia gravis, according to the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America.
COUR’s CNP-106 is an antigen-specific candidate designed to prevent immune-mediated neuromuscular destruction. The technology involves nanoparticles that bind to immune cells. The cells travel to the spleen and liver, where they undergo cell death. Then, the disease-specific antigens present inside the particles are released. The antigen-presenting cells take up the debris, which presents the antigens to the adaptive immune system. T regulatory cells then move to the sites of the disease, down regulating immune and inflammatory responses.
Apart from myasthenia gravis, it is also testing its candidates in primary biliary cholangitis – a rare autoimmune disease that affects the liver – type 1 diabetes, and celiac disease, the last of which is in partnership with Japanese multinational Takeda.
A phase 2 trial for primary biliary cholangitis had encouraging results. The candidate CNP-104 led to a slowing of disease progression in liver stiffness. Study subjects in the placebo arm experienced a greater decrease in albumin levels compared to patients who were given CNP-104. A decrease in albumin is a biomarker of the disease.
Earlier in 2024, Cour bagged $105 million in a series A funding round to push its myasthenia gravis and type 1 diabetes product candidates to phase 2 studies.
ARIZ Precision Medicine
Today, as the field of precision medicine thrives, ARIZ Precision Medicine, a biotech company based in California in the U.S., aims to incorporate nanotechnology for the targeted delivery of cancer drugs.
The company’s product is composed of a nanoparticle, which is customized based on the kind of cancer it is attacking, and has small interfering RNA (siRNA) that kill proteins that drive cancer without harming the neighboring healthy cells, cancer cell targeting peptides, as well as the chemotherapy drug – which is encapsulated within the nanoparticle. The nanoparticle is PEGylated, a process by which the polymer polyethylene glycol (PEG) is added to protect the drug.
The company has eight indications in its pipeline, which target the PRDM class of proteins responsible for enabling the proliferation of cancer cells.
Since its inception in 2015, the company has raised a total of $2.7 million over three financing rounds. The latest funding round took place in 2022. Recently, it was awarded access to lab space at California-based Bakar Labs to develop its cancer therapies, all of which are being pre-clinically studied.
Blueberry Therapeutics
While skin conditions are often treated with topical drugs, they do not always work very well, as the skin is a powerful barrier. U.K.-based Blueberry Therapeutics aims to address this issue through its drug formulation BB2603 for the treatment of fungal nail infections.
The therapy employs polymers that form complexes with the drug, the complexes being nanoparticles. These nanoparticles amplify drug solubility and retention and, as a result, can be administered in lower doses when compared with the drug on its own.
With five drugs in its pipeline, the biotech’s drug delivery candidate BB2603 completed a phase 2 trial for distal subungual onychomycosis (DSO) – fungal nail infections – of the toenail. Around 83% of people treated with the candidate had clear nail growth at week 16. Growth of clear nails was observed in many subjects as early as week four, according to the results.
The nanotechnology company successfully completed a comparative efficacy study of BB2603 cutaneous hand-pump spray, Lamisil spray – a commonly used spray for the treatment of athlete’s foot – and BB2603 vehicle hand-pump spray, in participants with onychomycosis and associated tinea pedis (athlete’s foot), where BB2603 demonstrated anti-dermatophyte activity, meaning that it was able to reduce fungal infection.
Blueberry Therapeutics has received £17.4 million ($22.59 million) in funding over six rounds, after the latest round took place in 2021.
Cello Therapeutics
Some of the most common approaches for cancer treatment include chemotherapy and immunotherapy, but direct administration of these drugs often leads to less than sufficient pharmacokinetics, vulnerability to biodegradation, compromised targeting, and strong side effects. To tackle drug delivery issues, Cello Therapeutics, a biotech located in San Diego in the U.S., has developed biomimetic cell membrane-coated nanoparticles.
Using human cell membranes to coat nanoparticles, the company’s drug delivery platform has a number of products in its developmental pipeline. One of the most advanced in its program is its platelet-derived membrane-coated nanoparticles in the delivery of immunotherapy agents for the treatment of multiple cancers. CE-120 was found that the outer membrane enhanced interactions with the tumor microenvironment, and delivery by nanoparticle was able to induce tumor regression in a colorectal tumor model as well as delayed tumor growth in a breast cancer model, indicating a superior antitumor immune effect.
The candidate CE-120 was granted the FDA nod for Investigational New Drug (IND) status last year, and has now begun phase 1 trials.
The nanotechnology company has secured a total of $8.7 million in two investment rounds, after the latest round was held in 2022.
Nanoform
Headquartered in the city of Helsinki, Finland, Nanoform’s Controlled Expansion of Supercritical Solutions (CESS) technology creates active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) nanoparticles to overcome the challenges of drug delivery.
The CESS technology works by controlling the solubility of an API in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO₂). Supercritical carbon dioxide, a fluid state of carbon dioxide where it is held at or above its critical temperature and pressure, is obtained from pharma-grade carbon dioxide which is recycled from a local industrial side stream. This allows crystallization at a range of temperatures. The benefit of utilizing scCO₂ in the process is that the output is free from harmful waste products and carbon-based organic solvents – which may be carcinogenic and hazardous. Applying the CESS technology, the company is able to develop nanoparticle-based formulations that have the potential to be administered at low doses.
In the budding field of biologics, the nanotechnology company also aims to deliver its nanoparticle-based products via parenteral administration routes that include intranasal sprays and pulmonary and subcutaneous injections as a higher load of nanoformed active ingredient could be administered for improved delivery. The biotech’s proprietary technology employs a nebulizer wherein API-containing feed solution is pumped, which is then converted into a carrier gas. Mist is then dried in a chamber, after which the particles undergo ionization, becoming charged particles, which are then collected by electrostatic precipitation. This technique has been adopted to create nanoformed rituximab, a monoclonal antibody, for amplified delivery of the cancer drug rituximab.
Recently, Nanoform received €15.4 million ($16.68 million) to invest in the commercialization of nanoparticle-enabled formulations for new medicines. It is also collaborating with U.S.-based Celanese to optimize the controlled release of biologics from long-acting medical devices.
Zylo Therapeutics
Specializing in drug delivery, American biotech Zylo Therapeutics has created Z-pods, which are amorphous silica particles that have been engineered to encapsulate compounds, and can be adapted to enhance bioavailability. The company’s scalable universal delivery platform can be leveraged to target the pilosebaceous unit.
The Z-pods also use nitric oxide, which has been successful in aiding the treatment of erectile dysfunction, wound healing, infections, burns, and onychomycosis, proven in non-clinical trials.
For its Z-pods, the nanotechnology company has been awarded over $3 million in grants by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the South Carolina Research Authority, among other organizations. Part of this was a $263,000 NIH grant to develop a topical Viagra for erectile dysfunction as well as a $294,000 NIH grant to treat chronic autoimmune disease cutaneous lupus with the help of its Z-pod delivery system.
Zylo Therapeutics has secured $13.2M in funding over seven rounds, with the latest one being a series B round in 2022.
Nanotechnology: a growing field
The market size of nanotechnology in healthcare and biotech is expected to be worth around $13.9 billion by 2033 from $5.6 billion in 2023, according to a report by Market.us. A Forbes report stated that the technology is transforming healthcare as smart pills and nanobots are changing diagnosis by making them cheaper and more convenient.
Moreover, its role in precision medicine has been established. Biotechs like ARIZ and Nanobiotix are leveraging the technology to create drugs that are meant to target specific diseased cells while leaving healthy cells alone and circumventing various side effects. Now, Swedish scientists have even created ‘DNA origami,’ capable of targeting and eliminating cancer cells in mice, by putting nanotechnology to use. What sets it apart from conventional cancer treatments is how much more specific and targeted the therapy is.
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