US researchers have been awarded a patent for their new manufacturing technology which enables the quick and cheap production of nanoparticles used to formulate and deliver drugs -- good news for NanoMed who has an exclusive licence for the technology.

The new process, called Nanotemplate Engineering, was developed by two researchers from the University of Kentucky [profile] and has been licensed to NanoMed Pharmaceuticals [profile] -- a start-up company they founded in 2000. The technology is used to formulate small molecules, peptides, proteins, plasmid DNA, and diagnostic agents.

As a drug delivery system, Nanotemplate Engineering can provide a sustained release of drugs in tissues, which may reduce dosage frequency, peripheral toxicity and adverse effects. The process also may enhance efficacy and expand the indications for which a drug may be prescribed, the researchers said.