Bridging the blood-brain barrier: New methods improve the odds of getting drugs to the brain cells that need them
2007
New Methods for Delivering Drugs to the Brain
publication
Author Information
Author(s): Dan Ferber
Primary Institution: University of California, Los Angeles
Hypothesis
What will it take to translate billions of dollars of research into therapeutic success for brain disorders?
Conclusion
The study highlights the challenges of delivering drugs across the blood-brain barrier and suggests new methods that may improve drug delivery.
Supporting Evidence
- One in five people have a brain disorder.
- Pharmaceutical companies have failed to deliver effective new brain drugs despite significant investment.
- Only 2% of small-molecule compounds can cross the blood-brain barrier on their own.
Takeaway
Scientists are trying to find better ways to get medicine into the brain because the brain has a special barrier that keeps out most drugs.
Limitations
The field of blood-brain barrier drug delivery has been neglected and underfunded.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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