Nanopharmaceuticals: A focus on their clinical translatability.

Nanoscale materials have contributed changing the way biomedical researchers address the biological and therapeutic limitations of conventional drugs and diagnostic agents. Thanks to a plethora of different materials and synthetic routes, particulate carriers can be designed to modify the half-life of compounds, alter their biodistribution and control the drug release profile, eventually providing an overall clinical benefit to patients. While around 50 nanoformulations (excluding biologics) are already on the market, several challenges still withhold them from unlocking their full translational potential. This review discusses the advantages and current hurdles in the use of nanopharmaceuticals, and describes the most important nanotechnological approaches which have been investigated so far. A focus is given on the record of clinical success and failures and current clinical trends. In an effort to identify opportunities and problems associated with each specific nanosystem, this manuscript underlines the need of a more product-oriented research, that can foster the progress of nanomedicines to the clinic.