Lipid Nanoparticles For Pulmonary Delivery Of mRNA

By Sams M. A. Sadat, Vicente Lacap, Richard Jiang, Zhengyu Chen, Tony Wu, Noorjahan Aibani, Nikita Jain, Jay Paquette, and Anitha Thomas

Lipid nanoparticles have become a leading platform for nucleic acid delivery, but their success has largely been confined to the liver after systemic administration. Reaching the lung remains a major hurdle, especially for gene therapies aimed at conditions such as α-1 antitrypsin deficiency, cystic fibrosis, and COPD. New preclinical findings show that nebulized mRNA LNPs can be delivered directly to the lungs, pointing to a potential path forward for inhaled gene therapy. By addressing one of the field’s most persistent delivery challenges, this work offers important insight into how mRNA medicines may be adapted for pulmonary use.

For researchers focused on respiratory therapeutics, take a closer look at what it could take to move inhaled LNP-based delivery from concept toward clinical relevance.