Dennis Douroumis

University of Greenwich, UK

Title: Manufacturing liposomes using 3D printed microfluidic arrays

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Biography

Dr Dennis Douroumis is a professor in Pharmaceutical Technology and Process Engineering at the University of Greenwich, UK. His research activities focus on emerging technologies including: (a) 3D printing technologies for pharmaceutical dosage forms or novel medical devices, (b) Continuous manufacturing processes for the development of medicinal products, and (c) Nanomaterial synthesis and surface modification for cancer treatment.  Dennis has established several national and international collaborations with world-class colleagues/researchers including industrial funded projects and several EU/UK grants. He received the prestigious award of Eminent Fellowship of the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences for the excellence in the pharmaceutical sciences over a prolonged period with an emphasis on advocacy and leadership.  He has also received a prestigious award for his “Outstanding Scientific Contribution” in Pharmaceutical Processes and invited to deliver the Award Lecture, sponsored by AstraZeneca. 

Abstract

Nanoparticles are small drug delivery vehicles (1-100 nm), that overcome many challenges in medicine such as crossing biological barriers and increasing drug bioavailability. Conventional methods of their production present drawbacks such as batch to batch variability and big particle size. An emerging bottom-up technology that has been successfully used for particle size engineering of microparticles is microfluidics. Microfluidics is a technology that allows handling small volumes and mixing them in narrow channels. In this study, we used three different 3D printed microfluidics arrays to prepare liposomes by mixing an aqueous phase with an organic phase made of S75 and Cholesterol at ratios of 8:2 and 6:4 respectively. Liposomes were collected at Total Flow Rates of 3, 5 and 10 ml/min.

All arrays produced liposomes varying from 40 to 70 nm, the particle size decreases with increasing TFR from 3 to 10 ml/min for all arrays and both FRRs. Zeta values varies from -40.5 to -86.6 mV indicating excellent stability for all nano dispersions. After 4 weeks storage at 4°C, a slight increase in the particle size was observed for both FRRs. Paclitaxel loaded nanoparticles were produced using microfluidic arrays and evaluated for their anticancer activity. Our study demonstrates the successful use of 3D printed microfluidic arrays for the design and development of liposomes.