Professor Avi Schroeder is in charge of the Technion[1]Laboratory in Jerusalem, which focuses on the “targeted administration of medicinal products and personalised medical technologies”. He is investigating “how to release medicinal products into the body in order for them to become active at the required site.”
These nanomedicines “act on an infinitely small scale”: “an active ingredient is placed in a nanovector (…) and then sent directly to the target organ tissue. Carried and protected by the nanovector, the active ingredient does not decompose before reaching its target”.
Compared to traditional therapies, these new medicinal products are “less aggressive for the body”. Targeted more effectively, they trigger fewer side effects. They are also “personalised”: “We create particles that are formulated especially for a patient and his genetic heritage”,explained Avi Schroeder, thereby ensuring greater efficacy.
Nanomedicines “have been available for about ten years or so and approximately twenty are already used in practice” to treat cancer. And this is only the beginning, explained Professor Avi Schroeder. “Micro medicine looks extremely promising for the future and is part of a broader revolution: the use of nanotechnologies in health”. Other applications are under consideration including the treatment of infectious diseases, tissue and organ reconstitution or the miniaturisation of diagnostic devices.
[1]The laboratory also conducts research into human embryo cells (cf. Gènéthique du 10 décembre 2007 et 26 mai 2015).
Le point (10/12/2015)