NANOINCICLO is a technology based on the use of nanostructured cyclodextrins (CDs) for the targeted delivery of drugs such as anticancer drugs, photodynamic drugs, anti-inflammatories, antivirals, antibacterials, nutraceuticals and metals with therapeutic and diagnostic properties. Successful CDs for the proposed technology are FDA-approved or in advanced pre-clinical investigational stage and include natural and functionalized, polymeric, and amphiphilic monomeric CDs. These are powders of freeze-dried CDs or CDs films from solvent evaporation to be resuspended in the presence of the drug to be trapped in biologically relevant aqueous media. The proposed technology is extensively demonstrated for both hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs. The trapping of the drug in the CD nanostructures is achieved through green preparations in water with the use of low percentages of organic solvents and allows the obtaining of highly homogeneous aqueous dispersions.
The innovativeness of the proposal lies in the achievement of medical devices through a process that uses matrices and green methods such as CDs, aqueous media (superpure water, buffers and culture broths commonly used in biological assays) and small quantities of organic solvents. In addition, the process makes it possible to choose, through predictive computational theoretical studies, the suitable CD for the types of drug to be trapped. Ultimately, the technology makes it possible to engineer a multifunctional device that releases the drug at the site of action in a controlled and targeted manner.