Table 1.
FDA and EMA Approved Medical Nanocarriers
| Liposomal nanocarriers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drug name | Active ingredient | Nanoparticle size | Specific treatment | Year of approval |
| (company) | ||||
| Ambisome (Gilead Sciences) | amphotericin B | 80–120 nm | fungal infection | 1997 [US] |
| Curosurf (Dey Laboratories) | poractant α | 50–1000 nm | respiratory distress syndrome | 1998 [US] |
| DaunoXome (Galen) | daunorubicin | 35–65 nm | Kaposi’s sarcoma | 1996 [US] Discontinued in 2016 |
| Doxil (Janssen) | doxorubicin | 50–100 nm | Kaposi’s sarcoma | 1995 [US] - 1996 [EU] |
| breast cancer | 1996 [EU] | |||
| ovarian cancer | 2005 [US] - 1996 [EU] | |||
| myeloma | 2008 [US] - 1996 [EU] | |||
| Marqibo (Onco TCS) | vincristine | 100 nm | acute lymphoblastic leukemia | 2012 [US] |
| Myocet (Teva UK) | doxorubicin | 150–250 nm | metastatic breast cancer | 2000 [EU] |
| Onpattro (Ainylam Pharmaceuticals) | transthyretin-directed small interfering RNA | 80 nm | hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis | 2018 [US] - 2018 [EU] |
| Onivyde | irinotecan | 90–130 nm | pancreatic cancer | 2015 [US] - 2016 [EU] |
| (Merrimack) | ||||
| Visudyne | verteporfin | 150–300 nm | macular degeneration | 2000 [US] - 2000 [EU] |
| (Novartis) | ||||
| Vyxeos (Jazz Pharmaceuticals) | daunorubicin and cytarabine | 100–200 nm | acute myeloid leukemia | 2017 [US] - 2018 [EU] |
| Polymeric nanocarriers | ||||
| Drug name | Active ingredient | Nanoparticle size | Specific treatment | Year of approval |
| (company) | ||||
| Eligard | leuprolide acetate | N.A. | prostate cancer | 2002 [US] |
| (Tolmar) | in PLGA | |||
| Welchol | colesevelam hydrochloride | N.A. | type 2 diabetes | 2000 [US] |
| (Daiichi-Sankyo) | in allylamine polymer | |||
| Micellar nanocarriers | ||||
| Drug name | Active ingredient | Nanoparticle size | Specific treatment | Year of approval |
| (company) | ||||
| Estrasorb (Novavax) | 17β-estradiol | 20–80 nm | menopausal therapy | 2003 [US] |
| Taxol (Bristol Myers Squibb) | paclitaxel | 20–80 nm | ovarian cancer | 1992 [US] |
| breast cancer | 1994 [US] | |||
| Kaposi’s sarcoma | 1997 [US] | |||
| non-small-cell lung cancer | 1998 [US] | |||
| Taxotere (Sanofi-Aventis) | docetaxel | 20–80 nm | breast cancer | 1996 [US] - 1995 [EU] |
| non-small-cell lung cancer | 1999 [US] - 1995 [EU] | |||
| prostate cancer | 2004 [US] - 1995 [EU] | |||
| gastric cancer | 2006 [US] - 1995 [EU] | |||
| head and neck cancer | 2006 [US] - 1995 [EU] | |||
| Proteinaceous nanocarriers | ||||
| Drug name | Active ingredient | Nanoparticle size | Specific treatment | Year of approval |
| (company) | ||||
| Abraxane (Celgene) | albumin-bound paclitaxel | 130 nm | breast cancer | 2005 [US] - 2008 [EU] |
| non-small-cell lung cancer | 2012 [US] - 2005 [EU] | |||
| pancreatic cancer | 2013 [US] - 2008 [EU] | |||
| Ontak (Eisai) | diphtheria toxin fragments + human interleukin-2 | 58 kDa | cutaneous T-cell lymphoma | 1999 [US] Discontinued in 2014 |
| Viral nanocarriers | ||||
| Drug name | Active ingredient | Nanoparticle size | Specific treatment | Year of approval |
| (company) | ||||
| Glybera (UniQure) | AAV1 vector containing lipoprotein lipase gene | 22 nm | lipoprotein lipase deficiency | 2012 [EU] Discontinued in 2017 |
| Imlygic (Amgen) | Herpes simplex type I | 110–200 nm | melanoma | 2015 [US] - 2015 [EU] |
| Luxtuma (Spark Therapeutics) | AAV2 vector containing RPE65 cDNA | 22 nm | RPE65 mutation associated retinal dystrophy | 2017 [US] - 2018 [EU] |
| Zolgensma (Novartis) | AAV9 vector containing SMN1 gene | 22 nm | spinal muscular atrophy | 2019 [US] |