Lipid and Carbohydrate Based Systems to Target and Deliver Peptide Drug Candidates to Specific Cells (2010-2013)

Many peptide-based compounds have been identified as potential new drugs and vaccines but few have progressed into the clinic, due to lack of oral absorption and rapid enzymatic breakdown. Our project will address these issues employing a highly novel strategy involving naturally occurring sugars and lipids. Our delivery system which contains a carbohydrate-based targeting unit will be conjugated to the peptide/lipopeptide of interest (drug or vaccine candidate) using chemical and enzymatic methods. Most importantly this proof of principle approach has the potential to not only improve the drug bioavailability, but to also enhance the access to the target sites.