Table 2.

Advantages and limitations of nanotherapy for vascular disease.

Advantages		Limitations
Targeted delivery to site of disease (e.g. atherosclerotic plaque) or therapeutic target (e.g. PCSK9 in the liver)		Challenges and cost of scaled-up production
Increased efficacy per drug dose		Gap in knowledge of clinical safety
Avoidance of systemic exposure and/or off-target effects		Requirement for formulation-specific methods for characterization of composition and purity
Potential for combining treatment, diagnosis, and monitoring disease in a single formulation		Long-term stability of loaded agents
Ability to be loaded with molecular recognition agents for “precision” therapy