30.8.2024
Åbo Akademi University and Bayer will tackle bottlenecks in drug development
Åbo Akademi University has received just over 195,000 euros in funding from The Finnish Research Impact Foundation for a project to develop small drug particles that can deliver the drug directly to the right place in the body. The project is a collaboration with the pharmaceutical company Bayer.
Many new drugs look promising in the laboratory, but often have poor solubility or fail to reach the targeted spot in the body. This joint project between Åbo Akademi University and Bayer will use microfluidics technology to develop surface-functionalized, nanosized drug crystals for more accurate and targeted drug delivery. By improving the solubility and transportability of the drugs, they will be more effective and safer.
“The project, carried out in collaboration with the pharmaceutical industry, will allow academic discoveries to be directly translated into commercial product development. This project can thus have a huge impact on drug development worldwide. I have been collaborating with Bayer for a few years now and we’re delighted to get the funding,” says Dr. Hongbo Zhang, Professor in Pharmaceutical Biomaterials, who is leading the project.
Åbo Akademi University and Bayer Finland have a strategic partnership. The goal is to strengthen the long-term research co-operation between Bayer and Åbo Akademi University and to increase the relevance of education to working life through a continuous dialogue.
The project Surface functionalized core/shell drug crystal nanoparticle platform for targeted delivery is funded by Finnish Research Impact Foundation’s Tandem Industry Academia programme and is one of seven top research projects conducting research in collaboration with companies. The projects have been selected on the basis that they aim to achieve new breakthroughs with a significant impact benefiting both science and Finnish industry and business.
Read more about the projects on the Finnish Research Impact Foundation’s website here: https://www.vaikuttavuussaatio.fi/en/funded-projects/