Opportunities and obstacles to the development of nanopharmaceuticals for human use

Pharmaceutical nanotechnology deals with the scope of pharmaceutical compounds that emerge from a multidisciplinary field of science entailing the development and application of molecular structures with dimensions smaller than 100 nm [ 1 ]. The nanoscale feature of these products and devices render them special capabilities that can be used to produce devices and products as therapeutic agents and other purposes [ 1 , 2 ]. Pharmaceutical nanotechnology has generated breakthrough developments in health care and human life [ 3 ]. The biomaterials employed in this field mainly aim at improving drug delivery systems, imaging and diagnostic technologies while the nanoscale materials are of widespread use in other industries such as electronics and optics [ 4 ]. In 1995 with the approval of Doxil® (liposomal doxorubicin) by the US FDA, the pharmaceutical nanotechnology passed its first evolutionary milestone with the subsequent approval of other products but the approvals are in their early stage with less than 50 US FDA approved drug formulations while more are in the pipeline [ 1 , 5 , 6 ]. However, nanotechnology applications in the treatment of some of most critical metabolic and genetic diseases and cancer, delivery systems, genetic tests, as well as imaging and diagnostics are promising enough to absorb huge amounts of investment into research and development efforts both in the academia and the industry [ 1 , 4 , 5 ]. Noteworthy, nanotechnology provides humankind with exceptional opportunities to improve its wellbeing, but it also has certain limitations that entail thorough investigation by the regulatory and scientific authorities [ 6 , 7 ]. The present study reviews the literature on the pharmaceutical application of nanomaterials and then raises the question regarding the possible health risks associated with nanopharmaceuticals use in humans. Concerns about human use of nanomaterials become overwhelming when we know that these nanostructures do not completely abide by the scientific principles that form the basis for our knowledge about how human physiologic system deals with exogenous compounds and toxicity tests also fail to adequately address the nanotoxicity issues for human beings, animals and the environment. Moreover, the research strives to bring the toxicological aspect of nanopharmaceuticals and pending health risks to top agenda in regulatory bodies as well as scientific community.