The Therapeutic Potential of Microencapsulate Implants: Patents and Clinical Trials

Cell microencapsulation holds promise for the treatment of many diseases by the continuous delivery of therapeutic products. The complexity of many diseases, such as neurological and metabolic disorders needs the generation of new drugs and especially new pathways to deliver the drug at proper concentration and into the correct localization. One hopeful technology is the developing of new biomaterial components with the capacity to envelope drugs, cells or tissues, being able to distribute the therapy; and at the same time, to be isolated from the immune system. Microcapsules technology has this capacity: releasing the necessary drug in a precise location with a long-term efficacy, and keeping the grafts isolated from the immune system. The objective of this review is to summarize the last patents and news related with microencapsulation technology, and the possible therapeutic applications in different disorders.