Project description
Advances in oral drug delivery
Acids and enzymes in the stomach’s digestive system and a drug's inability to cross the intestinal membrane barrier can hinder the effective delivery of oral drugs, especially those that are protein or peptide based. The goal of the EU-funded FREJA project is to overcome these challenges by designing and developing novel approaches that protect the active ingredients until it arrives at the right place in the patient's intestines. This will include developing self-configurable, proximity-enabling devices, which deliver drugs by embedding themselves into the bowel's tissue (mainly for insulin for diabetic patients). The project will result in a new transferable technology enabling the delivery of vaccines in the form of a pill.
Objective
Oral delivery of protein/peptide drugs is extremely challenging and the majority of research in the field is based on exploring new formulations, for instance using permeation enhancers. In recent years, some research has been done on ingestible devices for internal injections. Here I propose an entirely new approach based on what we have named ‘Self-configurable, Proximity Enabling Devices’ (SPEDs). The idea is that these devices (the simplest ones will be rolled-up foils) will unfold in the gut, embed in the mucus layer and align to the intestinal wall. It is essential that the SPED has close proximity to the intestinal wall and is retained for a while in order to ensure efficient drug delivery. The proximity will additionally allow us to study and explore the influence of nanotextures (embedded in the SPED) on the interaction with the intestinal wall as well as micromotor-based delivery. The SPEDs will be developed and characterized with the following specific objectives: (i) understanding the SPED properties needed to penetrate mucus, (ii) investigating the mechanisms for enhanced retention time, (iii) exploring the SPED as a carrier for self-propelling cargo, (iv) unraveling the overall behaviour of SPED and (v) demonstrating anti-diabetic drug formulation delivery with at least 5 % systemic uptake and show feasibility of a wider range of applications (delivering/seeding e.g. peptide and proteins/vaccines/probiotics). The work will include simulations of soft materials, device design, micro/nano fabrication, development and use of techniques for mechanical characterisation of device/tissue interaction, bio imaging and in vitro and in vivo studies. The major novelty lies in the SPED concept, providing tissue alignment/contact and unidirectional drug release. Further, the SPEDs provide a unique platform for studies on micromotors as well as nanotextures interaction with the epithelium.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs vaccines
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2021-ADG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
2800 Kongens Lyngby
Denmark
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.