A clinical update of using albumin as a drug vehicle - a commentary

Human serum albumin (HSA) has emerged as a versatile carrier for therapeutic agents, primarily for treating diabetes and cancer, improving the pharmacokinetic profile of the drug or delivering the drug to the pathogenic site addressing diseases with unmet medical needs. Market approved products include fatty acid derivatives of human insulin or the glucagon-like-1 peptide (Levemir, Tresiba, and Victoza) which bind physically to the respective binding sites of HSA thus extending their half-life. For cancer treatment, the paclitaxel albumin nanoparticle Abraxane has been approved for treating metastatic breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and advanced pancreatic cancer. Finally, the albumin-binding prodrug of doxorubicin, Aldoxorubicin, which binds covalently to the cysteine-34 position of circulating albumin, is in advanced clinical trials with a registration phase 3 trial for soft tissue sarcoma initiated in Q1 2014.