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Updated: Oct 30, 2025

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Published on: August 16, 2024
Extracellular vesicles as a next-generation drug delivery platform.
Inge Katrin Herrmann1,2, Matthew John Andrew Wood3, Gregor Fuhrmann4,5,6
1Nanoparticle Systems Engineering Laboratory, Institute of Energy and Process Engineering, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. inge.herrmann@empa.ch.
Extracellular vesicles offer unique advantages for drug delivery, but clinical translation requires careful design, characterization, and manufacturing. This review guides the development of effective vesicle-based therapeutic systems.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Nanomedicine
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Extracellular vesicles (EVs) mediate cell-to-cell communication across all life forms.
- EVs play roles in physiological and pathological processes like cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
- EVs show promise as drug carriers, surpassing synthetic alternatives.
Purpose of the Study:
- To discuss the unique properties of EVs for drug delivery.
- To outline critical development steps for EV-based therapeutics.
- To compare EVs with liposomes and provide development guidelines.
Main Methods:
- Literature review and comparative analysis.
- Discussion of EV loading, characterization, and manufacturing.
- Comparative assessment of EVs versus liposomes.
Main Results:
- EVs possess distinct advantages for drug delivery applications.
- Clinical translation of EV therapies faces challenges.
- Specific design, development, and manufacturing strategies are crucial for EV utilization.
Conclusions:
- EVs represent a promising frontier in drug delivery.
- Addressing challenges in characterization and manufacturing is key for clinical success.
- Guidelines are provided for developing robust EV-based drug delivery systems.
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