Besides the numerous advantages of a chemotherapy administered by the inhalation route for lung cancer therapy, dry powder for inhalation (DPI) offers many advantages compared to other techniques and seems to be a technique that is well-adapted to an anticancer treatment. DPI formulations were developed using the cytotoxic drug temozolomide and a new folate-grafted self-assembling copolymer, a conjugate of three components, folate-polyethylene glycol-hydrophobically-modified dextran (F-PEG-HMD). F-PEG-HMD was synthesized using carbodiimide-mediated coupling chemistry in three main steps. F-PEG-HMD was characterized by 1H-NMR, mass spectrometry and thermal analysis. F-PEG-HMD presented a critical micellar concentration in water of 4x10-7 M. F-PEG-HMD nanomicelles were characterized by a trimodal particle size distribution with Z-average diameter of 83±1 nm in water. Temozolomide-loaded nanomicelles were prepared by solubilization of F-PEG-HMD in the presence of temozolomide. Temozolomide solubility in water was increased in the presence of F-PEG-HMD (2-fold increase in molar solubility) which could potentially lead to increased local concentrations in the tumor site. The temozolomide-loaded F-PEG-HMD nanomicelles were characterized by a Z-average diameter of ~50 to ~60 nm, depending on the F-PEG-HMD concentration used. The nanomicelles were then spray-dried to produce dry powders. Temozolomide remained stable during all the formulation steps, confirmed by similar in vitro anticancer properties for the DPI formulations and a raw temozolomide solution. Two of the developed DPI formulations were characterized by good aerodynamic properties (with a fine particle fraction of up to 50%) and were able to release the F-PEG-HMD nanomicelles quickly in aqueous media. Moreover, in vitro, the two DPI formulations showed wide pulmonary deposition in the lower respiratory tract where adenocarcinomas are more often found. The present study, therefore, shows that F-PEG-HMD-based dry powders for inhalation could constitute an interesting drug delivery system able to release nanomicelles that are useful in adenocarcinomas that overexpress folate receptors.

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