Chapter 16 - Nanoconjugate formulations for enhanced drug delivery

Abstract

Nanoconjugate is the nanosized drug delivery system, which consists of a drug molecule or a drug-loaded carrier attached to a moiety covalently or noncovalently. There is a growing interest in these versatile nanoconjugates due to their suitability to design with moieties improving the efficacy and safety of drugs by targeting the desired location in the body, increasing solubility or stability, and controlling the release conditions. Today, many nanoconjugate formulations have entered the market to diagnose and treat several diseases, especially cancer. Antibody–drug conjugate pipeline has been widened with cutting-edge manufacturing technologies. Carbohydrate-conjugated therapeutic nucleic acid elements of RNA interference and antisense technologies open a new era to treat liver-associated diseases. Also, nanoconjugate formulations formed with other moieties, such as polymers, peptides, oligonucleotides, gold nanoparticles, and lipids, show promising results to be used in the clinic. This chapter summarizes the strategies used in these nanoconjugate systems to enhance drug delivery. Besides, a comprehensive review of the main types of drug conjugates (including polymer–, peptide–, antibody–, nucleic acid–, carbohydrate–, lipid–drug conjugates) used for conventional therapy, nucleic acid therapy, imaging, diagnosis, and theranostic applications is presented together with the latest preclinical studies, clinical trials, and approvals.