An overview on recent patents and technologies on nanoparticles for nucleic acid delivery

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Nucleic acid-based therapeutics offer groundbreaking potential for treating genetic diseases and advancing next-generation vaccines. Despite their promise, challenges in efficient delivery persist due to the properties of nucleic acids. Nanoparticles (NPs) serve as vital carriers, facilitating effective delivery to target cells, and addressing these challenges. Understanding the global landscape of patents in this field is essential for fostering innovation and guiding decision-making for researchers, the pharmaceutical industry, and regulatory agencies.

Areas Covered

This review provides a comprehensive overview of patent compositions, applications, and manufacturing aspects concerning NPs as nucleic acid delivery systems. It delves into temporal trends, protection locations, market dynamics, and the most influential technological domains. In this work, we provide valuable insights into the advancements and potential of NP-based nucleic acid delivery systems, with a special focus on their pivotal role in advancing cutting-edge therapeutic solutions.

Expert Opinion

Investment in NPs for nucleic acid delivery has significantly surged in recent years. However, translating these therapies into clinical practice faces obstacles, including the need for robust clinical evidence, regulatory compliance, and streamlined manufacturing processes. To address these challenges, our review article summarizes recent advances. We aim to engage researchers worldwide in the development of these promising technologies.

KEYWORDS:

• Patents
• nanoparticles
• delivery systems
• nucleic acid
• next-generation vaccines

Article highlights

• Increase in patents for nanoparticle-mediated nucleic acid delivery, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• The United States of America and China lead in technological advancements and patent filings in this field.

• Patents cover a wide range of aspects, including composition, application, and manufacturing.

• Among the nanoparticles (NPs), lipid-based nano-carriers emerge as the predominant choice for efficient delivery of nucleic acids.

• The focus of nucleic acid carrier NPs is anti-tumor therapies.

• Growing interest from industry and the scientific community underscores the promising clinical applications of these technologies.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Data availability statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.

Author contribution statement

Conceptualization: L.M.S.F.; J.R.J.S.; F.O.O.; C.D.P.; Validation: B.A.S.M.; C.D.P.; M.B.P.S.; Writing – Original Draft: L.M.S.F., F.O.O.; J.R.J.S.; J.W.S.; B.G.R; K.V.S.H. Writing – Review & Editing: L.M.S.F.; B.A.S.M; F.O.O.; J.R.J.S.; K.V.S.H; C.D.P; M.B.P.S. Methodology: J.R.J.S.; L.M.S.F. J.W.S.; B.G.R. Visualization: L.M.S.F.; F.O.O.; J.R.J.S.; J.W.S.; B.G.R; K.V.S.H; B.A.S.M.; C.D.P.; M.B.P.S. Supervision: B.A.S.M; M.B.P.S.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) (LMSF is a CAPES research fellow), to CNPq (MBPS is a 1A research fellow from CNPq and BASM is a Technological fellow from CNPq 306041/2021-9), and the National System of the Nanotechnology Laboratories (SisNANO/MCTI/Brazil) Plataforma Aberta CIMATEC Nano.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was funded by the CNPq Brazil – “Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico” (Grant Number 424911/2021-3).