TDDT

Overview

Read about the work of the Research Centre in Topical Drug Delivery and Toxicology

The pharmaceutics and drug delivery research group established in 2008 quickly established an international reputation in topical drug delivery and toxicology as demonstrated by the number of papers (45) and patents (7) that members of the group produced.

In this two-year period the group received funding in excess of £0.8m from industry, charities and research councils, including the ESPRC, BBSRC and MRC, the HPA, the Sir Halley Stewart Trust, MSD, GSK, Almirall-Hermal (Spain), Eisai (Japan), MedPharm, NycoMed (US), Galderma (France), Chanelle (Ireland) and Graceway (US) amongst many. 

As a result of this the Research Centre in Topical Drug Delivery and Toxicology was formally approved in March 2011. The Centre is headed by Professor Marc Brown and Dr Robert Chilcott who between them provide a wealth of experience and expertise on topical drug delivery and toxicology. 

The group has further cemented its growing reputation in topical drug delivery and toxicology and has established a reputation for translational research with work performed resulting in the regulatory approval of:

• Two topically-applied medicines; with one, Zyclara (Graceway US), being the fastest selling topical in the US in 2010
• Four topical formulations to be evaluated clinically

What the centre does

We currently have a diverse range of on-going research which uses a variety of methodologies from the laboratory bench through to non-invasive biophysical human volunteer studies.

The main areas of current research include development of new topical formulations, solid oral dosage forms, nanomedicines and toxicology.  

In summary, our activities currently include:     

• Drug delivery to the skin and nail
• Airways drug delivery
• Bioadhesive drug delivery
• Nanopharmaceutics
• Toxicology 

Equipment and infrastructure

We have a large amount of equipment donated to the Centre or purchased through grants or successful capital expenditure. Find out about our equipment and infrastructure on this link.

Key projects

“A fundamental study to determine the difference in barrier properties of healthy and diseased nail in order to aid the development of ungual drug delivery systems”.

This prestigious BBSRC/ MRC funded 3-year Post Doctoral research position was awarded to a collaboration of universities headed by the School of Pharmacy, University of Hertfordshire in collaboration with the School of Pharmacy, University of London and Division of Pharmaceutics, King's College London.

Together these institutions form an internationally recognised centre of excellence in the research of nail disease. Professor Brown and Dr Traynor secured this funding to investigate the effect of fungal infection on the structural characteristics and barrier properties of the human nail.  

“Ophthalmic drug delivery to the posterior eye segment using novel polymeric nanoparticles as drug carriers”.

Dr Cheng secured this EPSRC funded 3-year case award in collaboration with MedPharm Ltd. Profound changes in lifestyle over recent decades have resulted in an increase in prevalence of conditions such as diabetes and obesity. Such conditions are associated with macular degeneration and are one of the main causes of deterioration in visual acuity or blindness in developed countries.

This grant is being used to investigate the use of polymeric nanoparticles as carriers for the delivery of drug molecules to the posterior eye segment, an area that is almost impossible to deliver drugs to using existing formulations and technologies.  

“Advanced studies of mass casualty decontamination”.

This project builds upon previous work performed as part of the highly successful ORCHIDS project and aims to provide an evidence-based guide for emergency responders dealing with incidents involving the release of toxic materials. The work is being performed in collaboration with the UK’s Health Protection Agency.   

“Development of a human model of incontinence-associated dermatitis”.

This project, sponsored by Bracco Diagnostics Inc., will seek to improve our understanding of how dermatitis develops in immobile patients and will provide a new model for subsequently assessing the efficacy of topical therapies.