Nanomedicine to fight infectious disease

The ubiquity and potency of antibiotics may give the false impression that infection is a solved problem. Unfortunately, even bacterial infections, the target of antibiotics, remain a major cause of illness and death. Several major unmet needs persist: biofilms, such as those on implanted hardware, largely resist antibiotics; the inflammatory host response to infection often produces more damage than the infection itself; and systemic antibiotics often decimate the gut microbiome, which can predispose to additional infections and even predispose to non-infectious diseases. Additionally, there is an increasing threat from multi-drug resistant microorganisms, though market forces may continue to inhibit innovation in this realm. These numerous unmet infection-related needs provide attractive goals for innovation of targeted drug delivery technologies, especially those of nanomedicine. Here we review several of those innova-tions in pre-clinical development, the two such therapies which have made it to clinical use, and the opportunities for further technology development for treating infections. (c) 2021 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Automated summary

The ubiquity and potency of antibiotics may give a false impression that infection is a solved problem. However, bacterial infections remain a major cause of illness and death. The use of systemic antibiotics can lead to destruction of the gut microbiome and increase the risk of infections, while the rise of multi-drug resistant microorganisms poses a growing threat to treatment.