Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41599185›Full record

ReviewPharmaceutics2026

New Insights into Drug Development via the Nose-to-Brain Pathway: Exemplification Through Dodecyl Creatine Ester for Neuronal Disorders.

Henri Benech, Victoria Flament, Clara Lhotellier, Camille Roucairol, Thomas Joudinaud

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Pharmaceutics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Henri BenechCeres Brain Therapeutics, Institut du Cerveau ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 47 Bd de l'Hôpital, 75013 Paris, France.ORCID 0000-0003-3181-3744
Victoria FlamentCeres Brain Therapeutics, Institut du Cerveau ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 47 Bd de l'Hôpital, 75013 Paris, France.ORCID 0009-0006-4955-1024
Clara LhotellierCeres Brain Therapeutics, Institut du Cerveau ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 47 Bd de l'Hôpital, 75013 Paris, France.ORCID 0009-0008-4813-9139
Camille RoucairolCeres Brain Therapeutics, Institut du Cerveau ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 47 Bd de l'Hôpital, 75013 Paris, France.ORCID 0009-0004-6364-8944
Thomas JoudinaudCeres Brain Therapeutics, Institut du Cerveau ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 47 Bd de l'Hôpital, 75013 Paris, France.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Brain disorders remain a major global health challenge, highlighting the urgent need for innovative therapeutic strategies and efficient drug-delivery approaches. Among alternative routes, intranasal administration has garnered significant interest over recent decades, not only for its systemic delivery but also for its unique ability to bypass the bloodstream and the blood-brain barrier via the Nose-to-Brain (NtB) pathway. While numerous reviews have explored the opportunities and challenges of this route, industrial considerations-critical for successful clinical implementation and commercial development-remain insufficiently addressed. This review provides a comprehensive and critical assessment of the NtB pathway from a drug development and chemistry, manufacturing, and controls perspective, addressing key constraints in pre-clinical-clinical extrapolation, formulation design, device selection, dose feasibility, chronic safety, and regulatory requirements. We also discuss recent advances in neuronal targeting mechanisms, also with a focus on the role of trigeminal nerves. Dodecyl creatine ester (DCE), a highly unstable in plasma creatine prodrug developed by Ceres Brain Therapeutics, is presented as an illustrative case study. Delivered as a nasal spray, DCE enables direct neuronal delivery, exemplifying the potential of the NtB pathway for disorders characterized by neuronal energy deficiency, including creatine transporter deficiency and mitochondrial dysfunction. Overall, the NtB pathway-or, more precisely, the "Nose-to-Neurons" pathway-offers distinct advantages for unstable molecules and metabolic supplementation, particularly in neuron-centric diseases. Its successful implementation will depend on rational molecule design, optimized nasal formulations, appropriate devices, and early integration of industrial constraints to ensure feasibility, scalability, and safety for long-term treatment.

Indexed as

amyotrophic lateral sclerosisblood–brain barriercreatine transporter deficiencydodecyl creatine esterdrug deliveryintranasalneurological diseasesNose-to-Brain

Identifiers

PMID41599185
PMCPMC12844654

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.