NON-INVASIVE NANOMEDICINE DELIVERY OF BROAD-SPECTRUM ANTIVIRAL AGENTS AND EMERGENT MECHANISMS FOR VIRAL INFECTIONS CONTROL
Progetto The project NANO4AIRWAYS aims at the development of a nanomedicine pipeline enabling the efficient local nano-delivery of novel candidate broad-spectrum antiviral agents with poor solubility and bioavailability. They will be represented by the drug palmitoylethanolamide [PEA, a lipid-derived peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPARa) agonist, which was found to inhibit the entry and replication of SARS-CoV-2. Pre-clinical studies will be performed with experimental compounds, requiring nano-delivery systems, towards better understanding of a new mechanism of virus inhibition based on modulation of the host lipid metabolism. A novel nanomedicine approach for aerosol therapy of viral infections is proposed.