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ARTICLE | Tools & Techniques

Home is in the placenta

How tumor-targeting peptides could de-risk drug development in pregnancy

June 23, 2016 7:00 AM UTC

Many drug developers have avoided stepping into what they see as the high risk area of pregnancy-associated complications, leaving diseases such as preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction with little innovation and few treatment options. By taking advantage of biological similarities between solid tumors and the placenta, a group from the University of Manchester has developed a drug delivery technology that could shift the risk-reward balance and spur companies to reopen the book.

In a paper published in Science Advances last month, the group, headed by Lynda Harris, a lecturer in pharmaceutics at the university, reported that two peptides known to target solid tumors also home to the surface of the placenta. Drug-loaded liposomes decorated with either peptide accumulated in the outer layers of the placenta without crossing into fetal circulation or accumulating in maternal organs. ...