The professor of drug delivery research at Japan's Kyoto University's graduate school of pharmaceutical sciences received an achievement award at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) in San Diego last week.
In an interview with in-PharmaTechnologist.com, Dr Hashida said he was pleased his contribution to the area of drug delivery research had been recognised and now hoped some of his insights would be found useful by the pharmaceutical industry.
"[This award] is my great honour and pleasure. I have been involved in this field for more than 30 years when I started as a graduate student," he said.
Hashida, who has written more then 370 scientific articles, has spent the majority of his time studying drug carriers focussing on the delivery of genes and oligonucleotides.
Liposomes have been Hashida's drug carrier of choice, with many of his studies incorporating DNA into the liposomal layer and delivering the DNA to the cells via endocytosis or merging with the cell membrane, which Hashida said was effective in promoting gene expression.
Liposomes have lost favour with some of the pharmaceutical community in recent times due to the molecules limitations, the advancement of nanotechnology and the potential power of nanoparticles in drug delivery.
Despite this, Hashida said liposomes provided a necessary function, particularly with his work.
"Simple is sometimes better. This is very simple and easy to perform. With nanoparticles, the surface nature and character is not so easy. Liposomes are adequate carriers for our purpose."
However, Hashida believed nanotechnology would become a mainstay of future drug delivery, as would an increase in gene and sRNA delivery.
Future studies Hashida was planning included a combination of carriers and the use of an external stimulation such as neutron beam, ultrasound, laser and magnetic field.
The use of such external energy systems would also become increasingly popular in targeted drug delivery, Hashida believed.
The researcher is also interested in the analysis of oral and transdermal drug absorption.
Hashida currently serves as president of the Academy of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Japan (APSTJ), and the Japan Society of Drug Delivery Systems and vice president of the International Pharmaceutical Federation.
Hashida was one of several scientists who had their work acknowledged at AAPS. Other awards included: AAPS research achievement award in biotechnology, awarded to Dr John Carpenter at the University of Colorado; AAPS Research achievement award in pharmaceutical sciences, awarded to Dr Steven Nail, and AAPS outstanding lipid-based drug delivery award, awarded to Dr Kishor Wasan from the University of British Columbia.
