Nasal Drug Delivery System Development for Stroke

Currently, the biggest obstacle to stroke treatment is the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which prevents most systemically administered drugs from reaching the brain. Intranasal delivery offers a practical, non-invasive method of delivering therapeutic agents to the brain and spinal cord that bypasses the BBB. This technique allows drugs that do not cross the BBB to be delivered to the central nervous system within minutes. This eliminates the need for systemic administration and its potential side effects. In recent years, intranasal delivery of a variety of therapeutic agents, including small chemicals, large proteins, and even stem cells, has been shown to be very effective in bypassing the BBB and has led to some important advances in stroke research.

Fig. 1. Main physiological pathways and drug carriers of intranasal administration into the brain. (Khan et al., 2021)

Our Nasal Drug Delivery System Development Services

Ace Therapeutics offers comprehensive nasal drug delivery system development services to pharmaceutical companies in the field of stroke. Working together, our professionals can optimize nasal drug delivery systems and develop new drug formulations to make stroke drugs suitable for intranasal delivery.

Design of Nasal Drug Delivery Systems

Our team of experts with extensive knowledge of neuroscience and intranasal delivery, can develop nasal drug delivery systems according to customer needs. The following drugs can be delivered：

To realize the full potential of nasal drug delivery system, we can enhance drug stability, prolong drug release, and improve drug penetration into the brain through appropriate drug formulation modifications (e.g., the use of nanocarriers including polymer particles, solid-liquid nanoparticles, and oil-in-water emulsions) and drug modifications (e.g., the use of prodrug or enzyme inhibitors).

We also offer advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling and simulation techniques to simulate complex nasal anatomy, predict drug deposition patterns, and formulation parameters to improve drug delivery efficiency. The design of intranasal drug delivery solutions can be customized according to client requirements.

Preclinical Studies of Nasal Drug Delivery Systems

In Vitro Studies of Nasal Drug Delivery Systems

We provide in vitro models of stroke to simulate the ischemia/reperfusion environment and perform a range of in vitro assays to evaluate the functional impact and safety of intranasally delivered drug formulations, including permeability studies, cytotoxicity assessments, apoptosis assays, protein assays, and nanoparticle tracking analysis.

Animal Studies of Nasal Drug Delivery Systems

We use well-established animal models of stroke to evaluate the therapeutic effects, pharmacokinetics, and mucosal toxicity of intranasally delivered drug formulations.

• Measurement of brain and plasma levels of drugs
• Behavioral analysis: Foot fault test, grip strength test, rotating rod test
• TTC staining of brain slices
• Histopathology of nasal mucosal toxicity
• Blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability analysis
• In vivo drug tracer studies
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) analysis of cerebral infarct volume
• Cytokine analysis
• RNA sequencing
• Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and proteomic analysis

With our combination of neuroscience expertise and innovative technology, Ace Therapeutics can deliver peptides, proteins, and small molecules for the treatment of stroke directly to the brain via intranasal delivery. If you are interested in our services, please do not hesitate to contact us! 

1. Zheng, S., et al. (2023). Chances and challenges in intranasal administration delivery for brain disease treatment. Clinical and Translational Discovery, 3(6), e253.