Spherics helps the medicine go down

Spherics said it will use its novel oral bioadhesive delivery technology to enhance the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of an orally active compound that drug giant Takeda has in development.

Terms of the agreement and further details of the compound were not disclosed, however, Spherics's specialty does lie in improving the therapeutic profiles for the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) diseases.

The US biotech firm said its new technology, based on the application of proprietary bioadhesive polymers to oral dosage forms, has the potential to expand the therapeutic benefits of drugs that otherwise do not remain at the target absorptive site long enough to be effective or have issues of low bioavailability when administered systemically.

Spherics also said it has demonstrated preclinical and clinical proof of concept that its novel bioadhesive technologies can significantly enhance the profiles of marketed drugs from a wide spectrum of chemical classes.

The company has already used its technology to develop advanced oral systems of its own, however, the deal with Takeda is one of a number of reformulation agreements that the company plans to make in order to maximise its profits.

"Our plan to create value from its bioadhesive technologies by building a proprietary pipeline of central nervous system drugs, while at the same time entering into a few selective collaborations with major global pharmaceutical companies for new product development, life cycle management and product line extensions,"​ said Ze'ev Shaked, president and CEO of Spherics.

The drug formulation industry has seen a 38 per cent growth in the past five years and is expected to continue to boom as more and more drug companies begin to seek advanced methods of delivering drugs more effectively, as well as different ways of marketing both new and old compounds by divising new formulations.