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Trial of Insulin-Coated Gold Nanoparticles Approved

Gold Bars (Brian Giesen/Flickr)Midatech Ltd. in Oxford, U.K. says it has received approval from regulatory authorities in Switzerland for a clinical trial of the company’s insulin-coated gold nanoparticles. The company says it is the first test in humans of therapies based on solid nanoparticles.

Midatech says the trial will test the safety of insulin-coated gold nanoparticles when applied in transbuccal film — administered through cheek tissue — to healthy volunteers. The study, approved by the Swissmedic agency, will be performed in a clinical research unit near Basel, Switzerland and results of the trial are expected during the first quarter of 2012.

The company has developed gold nanoparticles of less than 2 nanometers — one nanometer equals one billionth of a meter — with a mixed carbohydrate/organic layer or corona. The corona is designed to bind with bioactive peptides like insulin.

Thomas Rademacher, CEO of Midatech, says the company has “excellent preclinical and toxicology results obtained for Midatech’s gold nanoparticles in multiple animal models.” Rademacher adds the company’s manufacturing subsidiary in Spain will provide the actual clinical-grade material for testing.

Midatech collaborates with MonoSol Rx in Warren, New Jersey on a transbuccal technology to deliver gold nanoparticles.

Read more: Organic Nanoparticle in Development for Cancer Drug Delivery

Photo: Brian Giesen/Flickr

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