Intranasal brain targeting of poorly soluble & permeable drugs by designing an easily scalable nasal delivery platform

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Das, Debanjan and Lalatsa, Katerina (2025) Intranasal brain targeting of poorly soluble & permeable drugs by designing an easily scalable nasal delivery platform. In: Drug Delivery to the Lungs 2025, 2025-12-10 - 2025-12-12, Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

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Abstract

With growing interest in intranasal delivery of CNS-active drugs like ketamine (Spravato®), naloxone (Nyxoid®), and epinephrine (Neffy®), there is a need for a versatile platform that efficiently delivers various drugs to the brain. Intranasal delivery works either through direct nose-to-brain transport via olfactory nerves or indirectly through systemic absorption and crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Direct delivery requires deposition in the upper nasal cavity, while systemic absorption mainly occurs throughout most of the nasal cavity. However, current nose-to-brain approaches face challenges such as the need for potent, soluble drugs, limited dosing volume (50–100 µL per nostril), rapid mucociliary clearance (~15 minutes), and specialized devices [1]. To address these challenges, we developed a self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) optimized for intranasal use. Our “drug-incorporation-ready” platform can carry high payloads of drugs with poor solubility and/or permeability and can be formulated as a sprayable gel that forms an in situ viscous layer to extend nasal residence time. We successfully delivered model drugs including naproxen (BCS II), promethazine HCl (BCS III), and aripiprazole (BCS IV), and demonstrated co-delivery of naproxen and promethazine as ionic liquid complexes within the SNEDDS core. This platform offers a promising solution for intranasal drug delivery to the brain by adaptation of a low cost, commercially available spray device without any specialized nasal devices which often pose as a deterrent for mass adoption both by industry and the patients.

ORCID iDs

Das, Debanjan ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-3472-4819 and Lalatsa, Katerina ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4791-7468;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)