SEK 9 million to research on personalized drugs for children suffering from severe diseases

(Image removed) Christel Bergström, Professor of Molecular Pharmaceutics

“It is fantastic to have continued support from the Erling-Persson Family Foundation for our work to utilize new technology to personalize the dose and appearance of drug preparations in order to ease treatment for children who are suffering from severe diseases, for example, cancer or neurological disease,” says Christel Bergström, professor at Uppsala University's Faculty of Pharmacy.

The SEK 9 million grant enables a continuation of the project Personalized medications for children suffering from severe disease. The work began in 2017, then with SEK 7.5 million in funding from the Erling-Persson Family Foundation. Also participating in the project are Mattias Paulsson, Akademiska barnsjukhuset and Maria Strömme's research group at Uppsala University's Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

“Few of today's drugs are designed for children suffering from severe diseases, so aiming to personalize established medicines with the right dose, good taste and fun color, we have asked parents and children about what they suggest could simplify treatments at home”, says Christel Bergström .

In this interdisciplinary approach, the abilities of new materials as drug carriers is also explored. These include Upsalite, a nanomaterial with pores in the size 2-50 nanometers in diameter that can be loaded with drug molecules and provide rapid release into the body. Another preparation being studied is to bake drugs into fatty substances, a method that provides rapid aggregation for drugs that are difficult to dissolve in water.

“We also explore how 3D printing technology with its great flexibility can be of use in printing tablets in different sizes, with personalized doses and to create drugs in different layers which means that substances can be released at different times and in the right place”, says Christel Bergström.

More INFORMATION

Read more Research on Pediatric Dosage Forms
Also read Nya metoder ska ge individuellt anpassad medicinering för barn (in Swedish)

cONTAcT

(Image removed) Christel Bergström
Department of Pharmacy, Uppsala University
Christel.Bergstrom@farmaci.uu.se, twitter.com/BergstromLab

text: Magnus Alsne, photo: Mikael Wallerstedt