Developing natural vesicle carriers for targeted and oral drug delivery
Medicines need delivery systems that can reach hard-to-access tissues such as the brain and bone. Biological barriers and poor oral bioavailability limit treatment options, leaving some medicines dependent on invasive administration rather than oral formulations.
Ardea Biotech is developing Minudik, a drug-delivery platform using extracellular vesicles recovered from food-industry by-products. It aims to carry therapeutic molecules into hard-to-reach tissues and enable oral formulations of poorly absorbed drugs.
What stands out about Ardea Biotech
IRBLleida reports completed preclinical validation of Minudik, including oral absorption and blood–brain barrier passage.
Spun out of the University of Lleida and IRBLleida to develop the Minudik platform for pharmaceutical applications.
Nowture joined the founding project to lead company structuring and executive management of the spin-off.
Co-founder Xavier Gallart-Palau leads an accredited UdL/IRBLleida research group and co-invented the Minudik platform.
Minudik won UdL’s 2025 Santander X university award and its €3,000 Innovative Business Ideas prize for the SDGs.
Co-founder Aida Serra is a Ramón y Cajal researcher at UdL/IRBLleida and co-developed the Minudik vesicle platform.
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