[nanoPost] Nanoscale cochleate drug delivery

Company USA

The company's drug delivery technology encapsulates the selected drug in a nanocrystalline structure termed a cochleate cylinder. 

All of the components of the cochleate cylinder are naturally occurring substances.  The company believe that the cochleate cylinder provides an effective delivery mechanism without forming a chemical bond, or otherwise chemically altering, the selected drug. 

The drug delivery technology is based upon encapsulating (or “encochleating”) drugs to potentially deliver the drug safely and effectively. In the late 1960’s, scientists began investigating the interactions of divalent cations with negatively charged lipid bilayers. They reported that the addition of calcium ions to small phosphatidylserine vesicles induced their collapse into discs which fused into large sheets of lipid. These lipid sheets rolled up into nanocrystalline structures, termed “cochleates,” after the Greek name for a snail with a spiral shell.

The cochleate technology is based upon components which are non-toxic: phosphatidylserine, or PS, and calcium. Phosphatidylserine is a natural component of essentially all biological membranes, and is most concentrated in the brain. Clinical studies by other investigators (more than 30 have been published that we are aware of) to evaluate the potential of phosphatidylserine as a nutrient supplement indicate that PS is safe. As an indication of its nontoxic nature, today phosphatidylserine isolated from soybeans is sold in health food stores as a nutritional supplement.

Potential Advantages

The technology may have the following characteristics:

• Encapsulation drug delivery encapsulates, or entraps within a crystal matrix, the subject drug, rather than chemically bonding with the drug.
• Enhanced Availability . drug delivery technology is being developed to enable oral availability of a broad spectrum of compounds, such as those with poor water solubility, and protein and peptide biopharmaceuticals, which have been difficult to administer. The drug delivery technology also has the potential to be applied to substances which are not currently deliverable by traditional means so that they may be delivered via injection or orally.
• Minimizing Side Effects . The drug delivery technology may reduce toxicity, stomach irritation and other side effects of the encapsulated drug.
• Stability . The drug delivery technology is being developed to provide protection from degradation of the encochleated drug caused by exposure to adverse environmental conditions such as sunlight, oxygen, water and temperature. Cochleate preparations have been shown to be stable for more than two years in cation-containing buffer, and at least one year as a powder at room temperature.

Products in Development

The company plans a diverse pipeline of products to be developed by applying the drug delivery technology to a potentially broad array of established and promising pharmaceuticals. Each intended  product (i.e drug encapsulated with our drug delivery technology) will, upon completion of development, require separate FDA regulatory approval, and accordingly, will be subject to the uncertainty, time and expense generally associated with the FDA regulatory process.

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