Researchers of Pharmaceutical Physical Chemistry ready to take the next step

In 1903, Svante Arrhenius became the first Swede to receive a Nobel Prize. Behind the award were his groundbreaking achievements in physical chemistry, several of which were achieved during Arrhenius' years at Uppsala University. Over a century later, the discipline maintain a prominent position at the academy. Not least the research track following a pharmaceutical direction.

“We are a scientifically relatively heterogeneous environment, working with a focus to explain how drugs are structured at a molecular level and interact with excipients. Our main aim is to contribute to improve the therapeutical effect when injecting peptide- and protein-based drugs into fatty tissue under the skin,” says Per Hansson, Professor of Pharmaceutical physical chemistry.

Work in the lab at Uppsala's Biomedical Center follows two distinct tracks: The development of methods to predict drug delivery via connective tissue to the bloodstream. In parallel the team study specific systems for drug delivery and recently published a theoretical model explaining the mechanism behind the release of cancer drugs from advanced carrier systems. With both tracks being of high relevance in the fields of pharmacy, new findings quickly find their way into industrial and academic research.

“Uppsala University and the University Hospital are currently collaborating to develop a therapy for primary liver cancer. Our strategy is to deliver drugs into the thigh that, by using optimized transporters, seek out and destroy the tumor. To succeed, we need exactly the expertise and technology offered by the research group in pharmaceutical physical chemistry, and to have this in-house is definitely a very important asset,” states Hans Lennernäs, Professor of Biopharmacy.

In parallel, the team has a strong commitment to the Faculty of Pharmacy's education. The group currently leads four courses in the Bachelor and Master of Science Programmes in Pharmacy, and the regrowth of competence is diagnosed as very good. Job openings at the research environment continue to attract international attention, but in recent years, an increasing number of junior positions are appointed with talents trained in Uppsala.

“As a pharmacy student, I found the courses in physical chemistry with their focus on applied mathematics and chemical processes in the human body to be highly interesting. In my ongoing PhD project, I use low-angle scattering, SAXS, to study interactions between, among other things, diabetes drugs and the body's own components. This gives me an overview of the process from molecule to formulation, and is something I aim to utilize in the industry in my future career,” says PhD student Ellen Brunzell.

Ellen Brunzell already has a co-supervisor at pharma giant AstraZeneca. An arrangement made possible by the team's central position in international competence center SweDeliver. Here, the Faculty of Pharmacy and fifteen companies collaborate to take on current challenges in the development of new drug therapies. Four years into operations, an external evaluation concludes that the center's research in parenteral drug delivery are "on the verge of world-leading with the potential to take the next step".

“Our work in SweDeliver and continuous dialogue with the partner network keep us constantly updated on what goes on in the industry. This contributes to our research being more therapeutically relevant than ever before, and Vinnova decision to extend SweDeliver’s funding for another five years enables us to strengthen our team where we identify room for further development,” says Per Hansson.

Future plans include increased manpower at the group's low-angle scattering infrastructure. This technology generates detailed knowledge about how drugs are structured at a microscopic level, which, among many things, paves the way for improved delivery and release of drugs in the body. With the team currently preparing to enter a European consortium focusing on naturally occurring lipid nanoparticles, the pressure on the already widely used facility is expected to increase even further.

“The SAXS instrument at Uppsala’s Biomedical Center enables studies along a range of scales, from micrometres to nanometers, that makes it unique in the Nordic countries and of high value to research involving microstructural characterization of different materials. For us, this has been a key factor in carrying out several important investigations of everything from new emulsions to ageing in novel batteries,” states Adrian Rennie, Professor of Neutron Scattering at Uppsala University.

Around the corner, numerous interesting projects awaits. On the agenda we find the investigation of a new type of injectable drug formulation using, among other things, microfluidics. Together with Professor Sara Mangsbo, the team is preparing a study of factors controlling the delivery of a potential cancer vaccine to the lymphatic system. And soon, PhD student Anton Norberg will begin work at Cytiva's site in Uppsala with a focus on a new technique to determine how firmly drugs bind to the blood protein Albumin.

“Anton's project, where both AstraZeneca, Ferring and Janssen Pharmaceuticals have added great value, includes a comparative study of results from our connective tissue models with those obtained in vivo. If they match, this could pave the way towards more resource-efficient drug development and a reduced need for animal studies, which is in many ways the goal of our entire operation,” says Per Hansson.

text: Magnus Alsne, photo: Mikael Wallerstedt