Our research on the development of Cell Targeted Drug Delivery (CTDD) Conjugation Technology based on Hyaluronic acid (HA), a naturally occurring polysaccharide uniquely involved in biological processes, was initiated in 1998, in the Institute of POLYbios, AREA Science Park, Trieste, Italy. The fundamental aspects of the chemistry of HA and its significance in drug delivery were explored. Anticancer drugs Camptothecin (CPT) and Methotrexate (MTX) were covalently linked with HA at their C6-position of the glucosamine part of the molecule to afford the corresponding HA-CPT and HA-MTX Conjugates, which exhibited better anticancer activity as compared to the basic drugs. In December 2019, pneumonia was reported in Wuhan, China, and it was known as Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by the virus known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The development of several vaccines for COVID-19 in such a short period was admirable. The same urgency is needed for the development of prescription drugs for viral diseases if human lives are to be saved. Despite the importance, we have continued our research on several HA-Antimicrobial Drugs using molecular modeling in collaboration with the scientists of some of the Indian Institutions.
