Without these lipid shells, there would be no mRNA vaccines for COVID-19

Restructuring the Global Vaccine Industry

“…It implies the supply of sophisticated components as plasmids (DNA molecules for insertion of the desired RNA sequence) or the already highlighted lipidbased nanoparticles. "Reliably manufacturing consistent LNPs was another challenge, and producing the raw materials needed to make the particles is a limiting factor in the production of COVID-19 vaccines today" (Cross, 2021). • The second difficulty is the pressure on global supply chains for all kinds of inputs given the enormous volume of vaccines .…”

Which Lipid Nanoparticle (LNP) Designs Work? A Simple Kinetic Model Linking LNP Chemical Structure to In Vivo Delivery Performance

“…13 Despite the company's extensive work, including tweaking ionizable head groups, optimizing hydrocarbon tails, and varying the linker regions between the head and tail, only a small number of the LNPs incorporating these lipids were effective in vitro, and even fewer were active in vivo. 14 Another key determinant of in vitro and in vivo LNP delivery efficacy is the composition ratio between the ionizable lipid or lipidoid, cholesterol, a helper lipid, and PEG-lipid. 15,16 Yet, similar to the effect of ionizable lipid structures, there is no systematic method to predict the effect of LNP component ratios.…”

“…Over the more than 30 years since the first LNP was invented, innumerable lipids have been synthesized and tested, only to fail to show effective gene delivery. − For example, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, the leading siRNA company that developed all four of the FDA-approved siRNA therapeutics, first synthesized and tested more than 300 ionizable lipids in 2006 . Despite the company’s extensive work, including tweaking ionizable head groups, optimizing hydrocarbon tails, and varying the linker regions between the head and tail, only a small number of the LNPs incorporating these lipids were effective in vitro, and even fewer were active in vivo . Another key determinant of in vitro and in vivo LNP delivery efficacy is the composition ratio between the ionizable lipid or lipidoid, cholesterol, a helper lipid, and PEG-lipid. , Yet, similar to the effect of ionizable lipid structures, there is no systematic method to predict the effect of LNP component ratios.…”

Folate Functionalized Lipid Nanoparticles for Targeted Therapy of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

“…In this regard, it has been demonstrated that targeted nanoparticles loaded with antibiotics protected the composition of fecal microbiota in a mouse model, while showing a desired therapeutic response for S. aureus infection [13]. Liposomes have gained widespread attention due to their clinical success for several diseases including cancer, pain management, fungal and viral infections [14][15][16]. Liposomal formulation of amphotericin-b (AmBisome ® ) showed a significantly reduced nephrotoxicity than conventional amphotericin-b [14].…”

“…Liposomes have gained widespread attention due to their clinical success for several diseases including cancer, pain management, fungal and viral infections [14][15][16]. Liposomal formulation of amphotericin-b (AmBisome ® ) showed a significantly reduced nephrotoxicity than conventional amphotericin-b [14]. Clinically-translatable lipid nanoparticle delivery systems with particle sizes ranging from 80 to 300 nm offer several advantages over conventional free drug administration, such as (1) protecting the antibiotic payload from degradation or release during transit; (2) limiting the antibiotic exposure to non-target organs and tissues, leading to higher safety; (3) enhancing antibiotic half-life and plasma circulation, improving bioavailability and retention; and (4) improving the selective accumulation at sites of infection [15,[17][18][19][20].…”