Patent for Targeted Drug Delivery Scaffolds for Joint Disease Treatment
BioE Associate Professor Ambika Bajpayee was awarded a patent for “Cationic nanostructures for intra-cartilage delivery of contrast agents and diagnostic uses thereof.”
Abstract Source: USPTO
The present invention provides a platform for the delivery of small molecule drugs or contrast agents to joints and other soft tissues. The platform enables penetration of the drug through the full thickness of cartilage and long intra-cartilage residence time by leveraging electrostatic interactions between the cationic platform and the anionic cartilage matrix. Described herein are compounds and complexes that fit this platform. Also provided are methods of treating a joint disease with the compounds and complexes of the invention, and methods of imaging joints and other soft tissue.
