Description:
Reference #: 01455
The University of South Carolina is offering licensing opportunities for exosome-delivered targeting treatment for blood vessels
Background:
Vascular malformations cause a variety of severe symptoms, depending on body location and types of vasculatures involved, which makes clinical management very challenging. The treatment options for vascular malformations are limited due to their complexity of types of blood vessels involved and severity of symptoms. Proper diagnosis and managements are difficult, and prognosis varies, which is a major challenge and threat to public health in general.
Invention Description:
This invention aims to develop a type of paradigm-shift nanoparticles FEOE for vascular malformations treatment, including PWS. The entire concept of using exosomes as the drug delivery vehicle in combination with the NIR-mediated laser therapy is very novel.
The formulation of FEOE is novel in nanomedicine, vesicle biology and light therapy since no such design has been ever reported. The engineered FEOE are very significant because they are designed to directly address the clinical limitations of current treatment of PWS (Prader-Willi Syndrome). The NIR wavelength can penetrate deeper into human skin than pulsed dye laser (PDL) thus targeting those blood vessels in the reticular layer of the dermis. exosomes as the drug delivery vehicle can efficiently transport the therapeutic agents into the targets. The chimera molecule on FEOE will guide specific targeting. The FEOE is also of significance as a method of creating new nanoparticles for broad new research applications for other types of vascular malformations with serious complications and limited treatment options, such as cerebral arteriovenous malformations and tumor vasculatures, etc.
Potential Applications:
Vascular malformations are congenital vascular anomalies, present at birth, grow proportionally with age and do not regress naturally. They usually result from developmental impairments of vasculatures including veins, arteries, capillaries and lymphatic vessels. Vascular malformations occur in 1.5 percent of the general population. The treatments for these disorders are limited which is an unmet need.
Advantages and Benefits:
higher efficacy for targeting lesional blood vessels, which will overcome many defects. For example, the PDL remains the treatment of choice for PWS; unfortunately, complete removal occurs in less than 10% patients treated. These inadequate clinical outcomes mainly result from: (1) incomplete ablation of PWS blood vessels located in the deep dermis where light from the PDL cannot reach effectively; and (2) the regrowth of blood vessels from post-PDL resistant PWS hDMVECs (p-hDMVECs). This invention specifically tackles these defects.