Nanobiotix CEO Discusses a Physics-Based Approach to Improving Therapeutic Delivery

As nucleic acid medicines, cell therapies, and oncolytic viruses become increasingly complex, developers continue searching for strategies to improve delivery while minimizing unwanted tissue exposure. While many innovations have focused on modifying therapeutic payloads or delivery vehicles, Nanobiotix is taking a different approach. BioPharm International spoke with Laurent Levy, founder and CEO of Nanobiotix, about how physics-based therapeutics represent a complementary strategy alongside biology- and chemistry-based drug development.

Why does Nanobiotix believe physics-based therapeutics represent the next evolution in drug development?

Levy says most therapeutic development today is rooted in biology and chemistry, approaches that have produced transformative medicines but also introduce significant complexity because biological systems are inherently variable. Drugs designed to target specific biological pathways can be affected by changes in patient biology over time, unexpected interactions with other pathways, and off-target toxicities, making development lengthy, expensive, and uncertain.

Nanobiotix is pursuing a complementary strategy based on physics rather than

biology alone. Levy explains that the company's platform uses engineered nanoparticles designed to create physical effects at the cellular level, such as influencing cell behavior or improving how therapies interact with the body, instead of relying solely on biological mechanisms.

"The fundamental difference here is the first layer of the modification of this product will not be influenced by biology," Levy says. "It doesn't mean that the benefit will not be influenced by biology, but at least we eliminate this first layer of biological uncertainties."

As one example, Levy points to NanoPrimer, a platform designed to address a common challenge across emerging therapeutic modalities, including RNA- and DNA-based medicines, cell therapies, and oncolytic viruses. These complex products are often rapidly cleared by the liver following intravenous administration, limiting the amount of therapy that remains in circulation.

Rather than modifying the therapeutic itself to evade liver uptake, NanoPrimer is administered first. Levy explains that the nanoparticle is designed to temporarily occupy the liver's clearance pathways so that the therapeutic administered afterward is less readily captured. According to Levy, this approach may increase systemic exposure, reduce liver accumulation and toxicity, and ultimately improve the therapeutic window.

"What we propose with the NanoPrimer is to inject a second object," Levy says. "When the liver is busy, you inject your second product that can go through being much less captured, and then you change the therapeutic window."

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