Respiratory Delivery of Biologics, Nucleic Acids, and Vaccines

Therapeutic macromolecules and biologics have gained increasing importance in the last decade. Pulmonary and intranasal delivery of these therapeutic modalities, which have poor oral bioavailability, could constitute an attractive, non-invasive alternative to parenteral delivery. They can be considered for either topical use for treating diseases affecting the airways or for systemic use for treating a variety of other diseases. Therefore, this book is a readable, thoughtful, and useful guide on the latest research developments and the best options that people involved with pulmonary and intranasal route of administration and biologically active agents can bring to their practices. Furthermore, it explores the underlying scientific rationale for the strategies applied to overcome drug delivery challenges and provides insights to inspire further research in this growing area.

Dr Jenny Lam is an Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics at the UCL School of Pharmacy, University College London. Dr Lam obtained her MPharm and PhD from The University of Nottingham, UK. In her PhD study, she investigated the use of non-viral vectors for gene delivery. Dr Lam was then awarded the Maplethorpe Fellowship, continued her research in nucleic acid delivery in the Department of Pharmacy at King's College London. She then joined the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy in the University of Hong Kong as Assistant Professor and returned to the UK in 2022. Dr Lam's research is focused on the development of novel delivery system for a wide range of therapeutics including small molecules, nucleic acids and biologics, with special interest in the use of particle engineering methods to produce aerosol formulations for the treatment/prevention of respiratory diseases. She is the principal investigator of a number of competitive grants. She has published over 90 peer-reviewed articles and filed a number of patent applications on pulmonary drug delivery systems. In 2020, she was awarded the DDL (Drug Delivery to the Lung) Emerging Scientist Award which recognized her significant accomplishment and innovation in inhalation science.


Dr Philip Chi Lip Kwok is a Senior Lecturer in Pharmaceutical Sciences in the School of Pharmacy, The University of Sydney. He obtained his Bachelor of Pharmacy degree with First Class Honours in 2002 from this Faculty. He became a registered pharmacist after one year of training in a community pharmacy. Dr Kwok then undertook his PhD studies on pharmaceutical aerosol electrostatics in the Faculty of Pharmacy at The University of Sydney and graduated in 2007. He was a research associate in the same group until August 2011 and became an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy at The University of Hong Kong in September 2011. Dr Kwok returned to The University of Sydney as a Lecturer in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the end of July 2017. His research is in pulmonary drug delivery. In particular, he specializes in the engineering, physicochemical characterisation, and electrostatics of pharmaceutical aerosol formulations. He has collaborated with academic and industrial researchers, both locally and internationally, on formulation-focused as well as cross-disciplinary projects.