Industry Update: The latest developments in therapeutic delivery

Abstract

The present industry update covers the period 1 November–30 November 2013, with information sourced from company press releases, regulatory and patent agencies as well as the scientific literature. The reuse of already approved medical products and techniques is not new to drug development – but is also becoming increasingly common in drug delivery. Proof points include recent announcements such as Unilife´s at-home delivery platform partnered with MedImmune, Liquidia´s particle-by-design PRINT technology launch, or Actinium Pharmaceuticals versatile antibody-based radiopharmaceutical delivery platform that allows the combination of specific antibodies with various therapeutic isotopes. Examples for convergence in delivery is the combination of drugs with therapeutic implantables and interventional devices such as Ariste Medical´s use of drug eluting polymer for devices made with polytetrafluoroethylene, Bard´s Lutonix drug-coated percutaneous transluminal angioplasty dilatation catheter and Micell technologies´ eluting absorbable polymer coronary stent system. Another synergistic approach is to mimic nature as demonstrated by the University of Lincoln´s use of cell-penetrating peptides to deliver ‘bulky‘ biologics to target sites. Finally we report on cases to positively influence unfavorable pharmacokinetics through formulation for example Civitas Therapeutics´ respiratory delivery platform for the rapid l–dopa delivery and relief from debilitating motor fluctuations in Parkinson´s disease or Aphios Corporation´s oral delivery of cannabinoids with biodegradable polymer nanoparticles for faster and less variable drug uptake in pain management.