Contact Information: Contact: Ralph Barry Chief Business Officer Aegis Therapeutics LLC 1-858-618-1400 Ext. 102 Email: Email Contact
Aegis' Intravail(R) Technology Provides Effective Oral Delivery of Anti-Sense Drugs in Primates
| Source: Aegis Therapeutics
SAN DIEGO, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- November 15, 2006 -- Aegis Therapeutics, a drug delivery
technology company providing exceptionally high and unmatched
bioavailability for non-invasive intranasal and transmucosal delivery of
peptide, protein and other macromolecular drugs, today announced the
results of a collaborative study confirming the effectiveness of its
Intravail® transmucosal absorption enhancement agents in oral delivery of
anti-sense drugs. Antisense drugs are members of an exciting new class of
polynucleotide-based therapeutics that include siRNA, aptamers, and
mirror-image aptamers (so-called Spiegelmers).
The study conducted by an independent third party involving oral
administration of an antisense drug currently in preclinical development to
six primates, revealed systemic bioavailability up to 18%. Oral
administration of the antisense drug in the absence of Intravail®
resulted in essentially zero absorption. Anti-sense drugs represent a
promising new class of drugs that act directly upon genes to modulate the
expression of proteins implicated in a broad range of disease processes.
Polynucleotide-based drugs pose a severe problem for oral absorption due to
their large size and high degree of negative charge, which makes it
difficult for such drugs to pass through the mucosal barrier of the
intestines. The molecular size of this particular anti-sense drug is
approximately 7,000 Daltons -- 10 times larger than the typical size of
most orally active small molecule drugs. Published studies with low
molecular weight heparin, another negatively charged macromolecular drug
but one that works by directly acting upon the drug target, also show
excellent absorption enhancement properties via the nasal, pulmonary and
oral routes.
Dr. Edward Maggio, Aegis' Chief Executive Officer, commented: "This is an
important development in extending the potential use of these new classes
of drugs to chronic disease applications -- applications beyond those
typically life threatening or acute diseases where injection is considered
acceptable."
Aegis licenses its technology on a product-by-product exclusive basis. At
present, Aegis has granted exclusive licenses for a total of eight
intranasal formulations for peptide, protein and non-peptide drugs.
Companies seeking solutions for efficient transmucosal delivery of peptide
or protein drugs, or formulation problems related to loss of biological
activity, aggregation, or unwanted immunogenicity, should contact Ralph
Barry, Chief Business Officer for further information.
About Aegis Therapeutics
Aegis Therapeutics LLC is a drug delivery technology company
commercializing its patented or proprietary drug delivery and drug
formulation technologies through product-specific licenses. Our
Intravail® drug delivery technology enables the non-invasive delivery of
a broad range of protein, peptide and non-peptide macromolecular
therapeutics that can currently only be administered by injection. Aegis'
Intravail® absorption enhancement agents provide exceptionally high and
unmatched bioavailability performance, comparable in efficiency to
subcutaneous injection, via the intranasal and other mucosal membrane
administration routes. Our ProTek™ technology allows creation of
proprietary, easily manufacturable, and stable aqueous or lyophilized
dosage forms that maintain the integrity and physiological activity of many
protein and peptide therapeutics. ProTek™ technology is applicable to
injectable, intranasal, and other dosage forms of peptide or protein
therapeutics.
For more information about Aegis, please visit the Aegis website at: http://www.aegisthera.com.