CUPIDO

Inhalable nanoparticles that deliver a therapeutic directly to the diseased heart

The worldwide incidence of Cardiovascular Disease (CD) claims 17.1 million lives per year, with an estimated 31% of all deaths globally and a cost of 139 billion euros in the EU. Up to 40% of all deaths occur among the elderly. We need new strategies for the safe and efficient delivery of heart-specific therapeutics. The CUPIDO project meets these critical needs by providing an unconventional but effective approach based on nanoparticle-assisted delivery of clinically available and novel therapeutics to the diseased heart. The project designs hybrid nanoparticles capable of crossing biological barriers and being guided to the heart. CUPIDO uses multidisciplinary manufacturing and validation approaches to bring the product beyond today’s clinical and day-to-day management of CD patients. Scale-up production and consideration for medical regulatory requirements allow CUPIDO to deliver a final product for future late pre-clinical and clinical studies. The project fosters the translation of nanomedical applications toward the cardiac field, which offers great potential to overcome the limitations of currently available pharmacological treatments.