ABSTRACT
Lipid vectors capable of therapeutic macromolecule delivery have been developed for promising applications over the past few decades. Out of necessity, various lipid vectors containing therapeutic cargo are being formulated to improve treatments of many diseases. These lipid vectors have allowed the field of drug discovery to expand their focus from the traditional small molecule drugs into larger macromolecules such as nucleotide and peptide therapies. Subsequently, this evolving field of drug delivery has allowed for the treatment of diseases that were once believed to be untreatable. Lipid vectors appear to be on the cusp of allowing doctors and patients a safer and more effective option for the delivery of nucleotide and peptide-derived drugs. However, as promising as these ongoing treatments and clinical trials are, there are many barriers and challenges that need to be addressed to continue this positive growth. Improving our knowledge of these challenging factors such as gene uptake and expression is necessary to develop more efficient delivery systems. This chapter will provide a brief overview of recent advances in the field of lipid vectors for the delivery of DNA, RNA, and peptide therapies, as well as discuss the successes and challenges seen in current and past clinical trials.
