Although most of the drug products currently in the market are developed to be taken orally, other drug delivery routes appear as alternatives to address patient-specific conditions that also affect families, health care units, and public policies. For example, the management of geriatric patients is often complicated by the difficulty that patients find in swallowing medicines and by polymedication, mainly in elders living with dementia, Parkinson’s disease and sequelae of stroke. Another illustration related to the importance of alternative routes of drug administration in both curative and palliative care comes from the management of cancer patients. Chemotherapy involves the use of several medicines and therapeutic approaches that often lead to severe gastrointestinal side effects. Such situations could be relieved by the aid of integrated and people-centered health technologies, like the use of nanocrystals to treat skin diseases locally.
In comparison to other types of nanoparticulate materials, nanocrystals are considered the simplest systems because they only require the active pharmaceutical ingredient to be ‘precipitated’. In terms of crystal structure, however, the pharmaceutical ingredient can be prepared in a variety of crystal forms. Nanocrystals can stick better to the skin, enter hair follicles, and release medicine slowly over time. The motivation for this project was the idea that the effectiveness of nanocrystals depends not just on their size, but also on their crystal structure and surface features. Surprisingly, up to now, the studies in the literature have ignored these factors in dermal and transdermal delivery. The potential impact of the selection of crystal forms has been widely documented in delivery studies via the gut. Little is known, however, about the structure-to-property relationships that drive the performance of crystals delivered to the skin. The Crystals4Skin project have investigated how different crystal forms of nanocrystals behave when applied to the skin. The team has combined chemistry, nanotechnology, biology, and medicine to ensure these new treatments are safe, effective, and meet high-quality standards. This research supports better drug delivery options, especially for vulnerable patients, and aligns with EU goals for innovative, people-centred healthcare.
