N2B-Patch – Development of an intranasal form of therapy for the treatment of multiple sclerosis

Acting as project coordinator as part of the EU-funded joint project “N2B-patch”, Fraunhofer IGB is involved in the development of a medicine-based treatment form for drug delivery over the regio olfactoria. At this position, the brain and the fluids surrounding it are separated from the nasal cavity by only the ethmoid bone and a few layers of cells. For many diseases – for example, of the central nervous system – it is crucial to transport the active substance to the desired target site in the most efficient way possible. One example of this is the treatment of multiple sclerosis, where the active substances must exert their effects predominantly on the central nervous system (CNS).

The goal is to develop an intranasal application platform for CNS-active biopharmaceuticals. Within the project, Fraunhofer IGB concentrates on the formulation of particles containing the active substance, and the embedding of these into hydrogels.

The development of a new form of therapy usually requires several years of intensive research and validation. The N2B-patch team starts its work in the laboratory and ends in proof of concept and pre-clinical validation. A total of eleven project partners from research and industry are participating in the project, which started at the beginning of 2017 and has financial backing for four years. The project partners are primarily focusing their research on the treatment of multiple sclerosis but they also hope to open up further fields of application of the N2B-platform.