Grant: Project Grant

Nucleic acids are exciting, emerging drugs to deploy against a wide range of cancers, including blood cancers, but they require specialized carriers in order to transfer them into cells. The carriers need to bind strongly to the nucleic acids, neutralize its anionic charge and condense them to small particles so as to facilitate its cellular uptake. This needs to be done without harming the normal human cells in the body. This project will develop biocompatible materials for delivery of nucleic acids into human cells. The carriers will be derived from lipid like cationic polymers and their physicochemical properties will be optimized for efficient delivery of nucleic acids. The project will generate novel biomaterials that will be commercialized as delivery system in a clinical setting, ultimately delivering 'breakthrough' nucleic acids drugs to cancerous cells in blood. We plan to establish a 'nucleic acid delivery platform' with the designed biomaterials so that specialized treatments of different types of blood cancers will be pursued with appropriate partners. This will provide an opportunity for joint ventures with suitable partners and expand the possible utility of the developed materials.