The technology is based on novel light generation pathways and a light-sensitive drug reservoirs.
A formidable physiological barrier for light-triggered drug release has been the inability to use high-energy blue/UV light as the triggering signal, making deeper targets within tissues accessible only to red light. However, red light, with its intrinsically lower energy, has limited value in photochemical reactions because e.g. the photocleavage of covalent bonds typically requires UV-light. The major objective in PADRE is to circumvent the issue of unavailable blue light through local light generation. PADRE will focus on creating a viable solution to employ blue excitation in precisely-tailored drug-releasing implants.
PADRE is a rare ERC project as it is actually a joint-project between two universities: Faculty of Pharmacy at University of Helsinki and Supramolecular chemistry of bio- and nanomaterials -team at Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences at Tampere University. It combines the expertise in drug delivery with in-depth understanding of photochemistry. PADRE also have ties to two Academy of Finland Flagships: PREIN and GeneCellNano. The research environment is therefore unique and of the highest possible quality. It will be exiting to see what we can accomplish in the project!
The project will run from 2021 to 2026. We will be updating this page to show our most interesting results and to introduce the team members once the project officially starts.