Gelatin nanospheres have recently emerged as promising carriers for (targeted) local delivery of therapeutic biomolecules. Still, gelatin nanospheres are currently produced by coacervation at labscale, which is associated with large batch-to-batch variability and low production volumes that have hampered industrial upscaling and clinical translation. Therefore, the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center (Dept. of Biomaterials) and the world-leader in gelatin manufacturing (Rousselot NV) will join forces to optimize the production of gelatin nanospheres by investigating the relationship between the physicochemical characteristics of gelatin and the resulting nanoparticles upon processing using two different chemical approaches. Key challenge will be to produce gelatin nanospheres of small size (preferably below 100 nm) without causing excessive agglomeration. To this end, a wide range of gelatins from Rousselot of different origin, molecular weight distribution, and isoelectric point will be processed as nanospheres in order to identify the optimal type of gelatin and processing method for industrial upscaling of gelatin nanosphere production. As such, NANOGEL will contribute to the topsector LSH by providing a platform technology for release of a wide variety of therapeutic agents and develop technologies for industrial upscaling (and possibly commercialization) of gelatin nanoparticles.
