Almirall looks to nanotechnology to improve dermatology products

Spain's leading drugmaker Almirall has launched a new research project, dubbed Nano4Derm, to investigate ways that nanomedicine can be used to treat dermatological diseases.

The project will be a collaboration with the Institute of Material Science of Barcelona from CSIC (ICMAB-CSIC), and the Leitat Technology Center.

The project will test new formulations containing ‘nanoencapsulated active ingredients’ to assess characteristics such as antimicrobial resistance, side effects, instability of active ingredients, and skin penetration.

The aim is to provide improved topical treatments for inflammatory skin conditions such as acne and psoriasis.

Under the terms of the agreement, ICMAB-CSIC and Leitat research centers will be in charge of developing nanocapsule prototypes, while Almirall will be responsible for the development of formulations containing the encapsulated active ingredients.

Almirall and Leitat will evaluate the new nanocapsules and formulations in preclinical studies.

Almirall is aiming to develop two types of nanocapsules, called quatsomes and polymeric nanocapsules, which can be used to produce high quality pharmaceutical formulations.

Earlier this year, the company entered into a collaboration with Denmark’s LEO Pharma to develop a painless, minimally invasive skin sampling method to facilitate biomarker analysis in clinical trials and research. 

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