Aptar Pharma Recognises World Parkinson's Day with a New White Paper Focused on Blood-Brain Barrier Drug Delivery

Aptar Pharma presents a new scientific white paper, following its recent roundtable held in Paris, France.

The goal of this roundtable was to explore and exchange views on the challenges, approaches and opportunities that exist with regard to effectively crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and successfully treating a host of central nervous system (CNS) diseases. The CNS, which comprises the brain, spinal cord and a complex system of neurons, integrates and responds to sensory information, playing a key role by coordinating body function. Diseases such Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s are CNS disorders that affect a growing population.

Although many molecules can be used to treat brain and more generally, CNS diseases, today, only 1% of these molecules can cross the BBB, a “firewall” that allows the passage of oxygen and nutrients but blocks the entrance of what it considers harmful or toxic molecules into the brain. The challenge therefore lies in identifying potential routes for drug delivery, hence the title of the roundtable: “Crossing the Blood-Brain Barrier, Which Route to Take?”

Aptar Pharma’s scientific roundtable brought together a panel of six eminent international key opinion leaders (KOLs) specialized in brain and CNS therapies:

• Prof. Alexandre Carpentier, PhD and Scientific Consultant, Hôpital Pitié-
Salpetrière & Carthera, France
• Prof. Margareta Hammarlund-Udenaes, Head, Translational PKPD Group,
Uppsala University & Udenaes Consulting, Sweden
•  Prof. Kewal Jain, Scientific Consultant, Jain Pharmabiotech, Switzerland
•  Dr Jaap Rip, Senior Scientist, BBB Therapeutics, the Netherlands
•  Dr Frédéric Sedel, CEO, Medday Pharma, France
•  Dr Jasper Stevens, Pharmacometrician, Centre for Human Drug Research, Leiden, the Netherlands.

During this one-day meeting, these scientific experts shared their knowledge and debated several key themes, structured around the following:

• Understanding the background and unmet medical needs
• Investigating the various delivery routes via which drugs can cross the BBB
• Exploring the pros and cons of various approaches currently adopted to delivery drugs to the CNS.

In addition, the KOLs discussed various possible approaches to deliver drugs to the CNS or brain, both conventional and innovative, including the use of receptor technologies, implantable medical devices and nose to brain (N2B) drug transport.

Based on the discussions and input from participants, Aptar Pharma prepared a scientific publication entitled “Crossing the Blood-Brain Barrier, Which Route to Take?”

“All of the experts at our scientific roundtable confirmed the fact that delivering drugs safely and efficaciously to the brain and CNS remains a challenge. In fact, a major unmet medical need exists, and the market offers very attractive opportunities for drug delivery solutions that guarantee safety and efficacy, and are patient and caregiver-friendly,” said Hervé Pacaud, Business Development Director, Aptar Pharma Prescription Division.

He concluded: “By organizing this scientific event, and with the input from the KOLs, Aptar Pharma has identified this unmet medical need and determined ways to optimize treatments for patients.”