Introduction

Pharmaceutical nanoscience is the study of pharmaceutical materials at the nanoscale and the application of the ensuing knowledge to the development of pharmaceuticals and diagnostic agents. Materials’ properties residing at the nanoscale have been found to offer a number of pharmaceutical products advanced functionality, specifically the ability to control active pharmaceutical ingredient transport in vivo. Nanoparticles are fabricated from various chemistries, e.g. polymer–drug conjugates, self-assembled polymers, self-assembled low molecular weight amphiphiles, silica, crystalline iron salts, gold, hydrophobic polymer nanoprecipitates and drug nanocrystals. Principally, with nano-enabled entities, there is unprecedented control of the in vivo fate of the drug compound and the science has subsequently already led to a number of approved products. Most notable of all is the recent introduction of mRNA vaccines, which use lipid nanoparticles as the delivery system. The approval of lipid nanoparticle-based RNA prophylactics has ushered in a new wave of activity in which numerous mRNA therapeutics are in development. Nanotechnologies have also been applied to medical imaging.