Nanopharmaceuticals (part 2): products in the pipeline

In part I of this review we assessed nanoscience-related definitions as applied to pharmaceuticals and we discussed all 43 currently approved drug formulations, which are widely publicized as nanopharmaceuticals or nanomedicines. In continuation, here we review the currently ongoing clinical trials within the broad field of nanomedicine. Confining the definition of nanopharmaceuticals to therapeutic formulations, in which the unique physicochemical properties expressed in the nanosize range, when man-made, play the pivotal therapeutic role, we found an apparently low number of trials, which reflects neither the massive investments made in the field of nanomedicine nor the general hype associated with the term "nano." Moreover, after an extensive search for information through clinical trials, we found only two clinical trials with materials that show unique nano-based properties, ie, properties that are displayed neither on the atomic nor on the bulk material level.