Bend Research on the hunt for more SDD alliances
Last week, Eli Lilly became the latest pharma giant to sign an SDD licensing agreement with the firm, in a bid to advance its poorly soluble molecules. The news follows similar drug delivery enhancement deals with Merck & Co and Pfizer.
Now Bend hopes to attract more big business – as well as deals with small and mid-sized firms – through its growing SDD capabilities.
And with an estimated 60 per cent of compounds hitting coming up against solubility challenges in development, the firm is hopeful its platform will pull in the desired clientele.
Company president Jim Nightingale told in-PharmaTechnologist: “We have worked with more than 75 companies, including 10 of the 15 largest pharmaceutical companies worldwide.”
He said the team now hopes to extend its reach by further developing its technology.
“Our main areas of focus for expanding the use of the SDD technology to include spray-dried biotherapeutics, spray-dried inhaled particles, and spray-dried nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery,” he said.
“In support of those efforts, we are working on the development of new materials and the development of platforms capable of delivering combination therapies.”
Nightingale added that Bend is keen to develop its relationships with smaller research firms through its upcoming expansions.
How it works
SDD is a single-phase, amorphous molecular dispersion of a drug in a polymer matrix. It is created by dissolving a drug and polymer in an organic solvent and then spray-drying the solution.
The developers choose formulation and process conditions that force the solvent to evaporate from the droplets rapidly, before phase separation or crystallisation can take place.
“In addition to their proven performance, SDDs have demonstrated long-term stability and excellent manufacturability,” Nightingale added.
He told us products developed using SDD have consistently demonstrated shelf lives of more than two years.
