Lipid Nanoparticles
Custom Design & CRO Service
Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) or solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs, sLNPs) are nanoparticles composed of lipids and possess a solid lipid core matrix which is able to solubilize lipophilic molecules. Typically they are spherical with an average diameter between 10 and 1000 nanometers.
Lipid nanoparticles have emerged across the pharmaceutical industry as promising vehicles to deliver a variety of therapeutics. They are a novel pharmaceutical drug delivery system and formulation. LNPs became more widely known in late 2020, as some COVID-19 vaccines that use RNA vaccine technology coat the fragile mRNA strands with PEGylated lipid nanoparticles as their delivery vehicle.
Liposomes, an early version of LNPs, are a versatile nanomedicine delivery platform. A number of liposomal drugs have been approved and applied to medical practice. A liposome is a spherical vesicle with at least one lipid bilayer. The liposome can be used as a vehicle for administration of nutrients and pharmaceutical drugs. Liposomes are composite structures, consisting of phospholipids, especially phosphatidylcholine. It may contain small amounts of other molecules. Though liposomes can vary in size from low micrometer range to tens of micrometers, unilamellar liposomes, shown as the Figure below, are typically in the lower size range with various targeting ligands. The ligands are attached to their surface allowing for their surface-attachment and accumulation in pathological areas for treatment of disease.
Service:
-
Formulation design (LNP, Liposome or PLGA)
Customize liposomes design based on our clients’ demand by varying lipid compositions, vesicle sizes, surface charges, etc.
-
Screening LNP preparation (variable flow rates and lipid ratios)
-
High-throughput LNP Formulation Screening with NanoGenerator S plus (>100 samples)
-
Small volume LNP preparation with NanoGenerator S (down to 50uL per sample)
-
Bulk LNP preparation (up to Liters and continuous production)
-
Payload encapsulation
Customize protocols to encapsulate drug molecules into lipid nanoparticle or PLGA with high encapsulation efficiency.
-
Gene delivery Study
In vitro cell study
In vivo small animal study
-
Analysis and characterization
Run comprehensive analysis assays for liposomes before and after encapsulation, which includes visual appearance, size distribution, stability, entrapment efficiency, encapsulation efficiency analysis, in vitro release profile analysis, release rate, etc.
-
Scale-up and process optimization
Scale-up and process optimization from small volume 0.05mL/sample preclinical GLP preparation up to >10L large volume cGMP production.
-
Instrument customization
Customize NanoGenerator system base on customer requirements.