I guess all the hype about Viagra (used for male erectile dysfunction) fooled me as until now, I believed it was a miracle drug that worked relatively well. Apparently, it has many side effects, takes too long to become active, and doesn’t last long enough. Consequently, researchers in Egypt are working on a solution, transdermal ‘nanocarriers’ on human skin as delivery agents for the drug. From the July 26, 2011 news item on Azonano,

Pharmaceutical scientist Yosra S.R. Elnaggar of Alexandria University and professors there and at Alexandria and Pharos University, explain how previous attempts to create a Viagra transdermal application have been hampered by the properties of the drug itself. The drug has low oil and water solubility and is loathe to cross membranes, such as human skin, because of this. However, it is possible to encapsulate the drug in nanoemulsion based systems that can cross membranes readily. As such, the team has investigated two types of nanocarriers made using fat-like lipid molecules – the first made by forming an emulsion with the drug using a surfactant compound to allow the lipid molecules and drug to mix, much as soap will emulsify oil and water. The second option is a self-emulsifying nanocarrier that has its own inbuilt surfactant.

This project reminds me a little of the nano patch vaccine that Mark Kendall and his team in Australia are working on. Success for that project means eliminating needles (and attendant injuries), refrigeration for vaccines, and the need for an expert to administer the vaccine. In the hotter regions of the planet, a nano patch vaccine would be a good solution for the refrigeration and drug administration issues. My most recent posting about Kendall’s work, which they are trying to commercialize, is from October 29, 2010.