Based on pioneering work Robert Langer (MIT) has done with self-assembling polymers, BIND Biosciences (Cambridge, MA) is carrying out animal testing of nanoparticles, made from biodegradable polymers with a polyethylene glycol coating and cancer-targeting proteins that deliver anticancer drugs.  PEG allows the particles to slow immunological clearance, while the targeting proteins reach specific tumors with a more effective drug dose.  The company expects to start human trials next year.     MORE

Image Description: Drug-laden nanoparticles developed by BIND Biosciences have accumulated in a prostate-cancer cell .   Image Credit: BIND Biosciences  and Technology Review