Colloque - Advancing Biomaterials: Biomimetic and Biohybrid Innovations - Kazunori Kataoka : Self-Assembling Polymer Nanosystems: Towards Clinical Translation of Smart Drug Delivery

Sébastien Lecommandoux

Collège de France

Innovation technologique Liliane Bettencourt (2024-2025)

Année 2024-2025

Colloque - Advancing Biomaterials: Biomimetic and Biohybrid Innovations

Kazunori Kataoka : Self-Assembling Polymer Nanosystems: Towards Clinical Translation of Smart Drug Delivery

Kazunori Kataoka

Professeur, iCONM - University of Tokyo

Résumé

Self-assembling polymer-based nanosystems, particularly polymer micelle-type drug delivery systems (PM-DDS), have emerged as powerful platforms for the smart delivery of therapeutic agents. Constructed through the spontaneous organization of precision-engineered block copolymers, these nanoscale carriers—typically 10 to 100 nm in size, comparable to viruses—feature a core–shell structure that enables both efficient drug encapsulation and excellent biocompatibility. While initially developed for small-molecule delivery, PM-DDS technology has rapidly evolved to accommodate more complex modalities such as nucleic acid and protein therapeutics, as well as imaging contrast agents. This presentation will focus on recent advances in PM-DDS, with particular emphasis on systems designed for the delivery of nucleic acid-based drugs including siRNA, antisense oligonucleotides (ASO), and mRNA. Highlighted examples include platforms that have progressed to clinical evaluation, underscoring the translational potential of these self-assembling nanocarriers in addressing intractable diseases.

Kazunori Kataoka

Prof. Kazunori Kataoka is the Center Director of the Innovation Center of NanoMedicine, Kawasaki Institute of Industrial Promotion, and Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo. For over four decades, he has made pioneering contributions to the fields of biomaterials, particularly in drug delivery and targeting, non-viral gene delivery, and nanomedicine. He has authored more than 600 peer-reviewed publications, which have garnered over 100,000 citations (h-index: 168), and has been recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate Analytics for nine consecutive years since 2016. His many accolades include the Clemson Award from the Society for Biomaterials (2004), the Founder's Award from the Controlled Release Society (2006), the NIMS Award from the National Institute for Materials Science (Japan, 2009), the Humboldt Research Award (2012), the Leo Esaki Prize (2012), the Gutenberg Research Award (2015), the Princess Takamatsu Cancer Research Fund Prize (2017), the Biomaterials Global Impact Award (2023), and the Clarivate Citation Laureate in Chemistry (2023). He is an International Member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (since 2017), and a Fellow of the U.S. National Academy of Inventors (since 2017). In 2018, he was awarded the honorary degree Doctor Honoris Causa (Dr.h.c.) by Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany