Elka Touitou
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Title: New Nanovesicular Carriers for Nasal Drug Administration
Biography
Professor Elka Touitou is an internationally recognized authority in the field of drug delivery and design of new carrier technologies for efficient nasal, transdermal and cannabinoid new products. She has pioneered leading technologies in the field that evolved into startup companies. Also she has been invited as Visiting Professor at Universities in Europe and Asia. She has been the instructor of numerous graduate students. Prof. Touitou has broad experience in collaborating with the pharmaceutical industry serving in their Advisory Board. She has more than 100 scientific publications including original research, reviews, book chapters and co-editor of two books. She is the inventor of international granted patents.
Abstract
The nasal way of drug administration is considered a safe, convenient, and noninvasive alternative to the conventional oral and parenteral routes. However, the low permeability of the nasal mucosa prevents systemic and brain delivery of many molecules. Nanovesicular carriers have been investigated extensively to overcome this barrier aiming to improve the nasal drug delivery. Liposomes, rigid phospholipid nanovesicles, are almost non-penetrating the nasal mucosa. Altered lipid vesicles by incorporating alcohols or surfactants are the new generation of carriers able to overcome the permeability barriers in the mucosa. We have shown that the administration of a number of drugs including Tramadol, Insulin, Ketoprofen, Rizatriptan, Buspirone and Epidermal growth Factor in soft phospholipid vesicles allowed a rapid delivery to animal brain, leading to a quick onset of action. Drugs loaded in these carriers were investigated for the treatment of various diseases in animal models, including multiple sclerosis (MS), hot flushes, Parkinson’s disease, pain, inflammation and insomnia. These nanosystems were tested in a number of pharmacokinetic studies in animals. The use of altered phospholipid vesicles for nasal drug administration is now a growing field of research.
14-15 Nov 2022 
TIME Asma Hotel Albarsha, Dubai, UAE & Online 
