Scientists at the University of Portsmouth have won nearly half a million pounds to develop a way of allowing drugs to be delivered straight to the brain. The grant allows a team to spend the next three years trying to unlock the blood brain barrier to allow drugs to be targeted at diseases including cancer. The £451,000 grant was given by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
The modified polymer would be small enough to breach the blood brain barrier and would act like a delivery container carrying the drug. The research team chose to study natural polymers because they make excellent drug-carriers, are non-toxic and are biodegradable and biocompatible.
If successful, the temporary unlocking of the filter would allow a range of brain diseases to be treated more efficiently. It is hoped that in the long-term these formulations will be useful for the treatment of a range of brain diseases including brain tumours, stroke and neurodegenerative disorders.
