Nanobots - The imagination

 

 

CMC - Pharmaceutical development

Electroceuticals? WTF?

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102455908?__source=yahoo|finance|headline|headline|story&par=yahoo&doc=102455908#.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroceuticals

 

3D printed liver tissue

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/organovo-begins-selling-3d-printed-194446024.html
 

3D printing of a pill...

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/284381.php

Nanomedicine - when rocket science fails...

Just take a look on a sexiest nanomedical platform I ever seen: http://www.bindtherapeutics.com/technology/accurins.html
And guess what? It looks like it is not efficient: http://news.yahoo.com/bind-therapeutics-ends-cancer-drug-partnership-amgen-215749121--finance.html

The "keep it simple" rule works again...

Another magic bullet! Be inspired of the rocket science!

Surprised?

Targeted failure of the week. Post No 148. Vintafolide

May 2 (Reuters) - Merck & Co Inc and Endocyte Inc said they had stopped a late-stage trial of their experimental ovarian cancer drug because it did not improve survival rates without the cancer worsening.

The trial was testing the drug, vintafolide, in combination with a chemotherapy drug, pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD), compared to PLD plus a placebo.

An independent safety committee reviewing the trial had recommended that it be halted, the companies said in separate statements.

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/merck-endocytes-ovarian-cancer-drug-123352592.html

 

TV food

Patent cliff, Life ycle management and formulation strategies

Very useful article: http://www.pharmtech.com/pharmtech/Formulation/Can-Pharma-Defy-Gravity-at-the-Patent-Cliff/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/828013

 

 

 

Generic-drug competition has become increasingly aggressive, especially in an environment where healthcare policies are placing stronger emphasis on pharmacoeconomics and demanding better treatment outcomes at a lower cost. A 2012 analysis by IMS Health estimated that patent expiries will reduce brand spending in developed markets by $127 billion through 2016 (1). With drug-development expenditures escalating at an alarming rate while R&D productivity continues to decline, branded drug-makers are under pressure to maximize the value of their products throughout their lifecycles.

 

Strategies:

 

Modified-release formulations

Switch-and-grow formulations

Expand-and-grow formulations

Combination Products

 

Inhaled Insulin - the game is not over

http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnlamattina/2013/08/22/challenges-in-commercializing-inhaled-insulin/?partner=yahootix

ABC of controlled release through Osmotic Systems

Osmotically controlled oral drug-delivery systems have gained popularity because of the following advantages over other controlled-release strategies 

• Zero-order kinetic release is achievable.
• The drug is delivered at a constant rate that is independent of time and drug concentration.
• The release rate is highly predictable.
• Higher release rates are possible compared with conventional drug-delivery systems.
• Drug release is independent of physiological factors of the gastrointestinal tract, including gastric pH and hydrodynamic conditions.
• Drug release is generally not affected by the presence of food.
• The release rate can be programmed by modulating release-control parameters.
• Delivery may be delayed or pulsed if desired.
• There is a high degree of in vivo-in vitro correlation.
• Soluble and insoluble compounds can be delivered.
• Production scale-up is easy.

Quote of the day. Tesla

Современные учёные мыслят глубоко вместо того, чтобы мыслить ясно.
Чтобы мыслить ясно, нужно обладать здравым рассудком,
а мыслить глубоко можно и будучи совершенно сумасшедшим.

Никола Тесла

Nanomedicine - new mantra for the old BS

I like the ambitious language and new promises in the field of nanomedicine. The statements sound like music!

"We have been hearing about the promise of nanomedicine for a long time, but it is now really starting to move," said Dan Peer, who runs a nanomedicine laboratory at Tel Aviv University.

 

"There is a new level of confidence in this approach among the big pharmaceutical companies ... We will see more and more products in clinical testing over the next few years and I think that is very exciting."

 

Nanoparticles made of polymers, gold and even graphene - a newly-discovered form of carbon - are now in various stages of development. In cancer alone, 117 drugs are being assessed using nanoparticle formulations, though most have yet to be tried on patients, according to Thomson Reuters Pharma data.

Stealth probes. Stealth electrodes. Stealth research. Stealth understanding.

 

Stealth Electrodes provide direct electrical access to cell

Well, why "stealth"? It is invisible? Future goes "stealth"!

Another magic cure against cancer. Post No 40. Technology company InSightec.

Very exciting video! Nice technology which cures everything! Probably... Just wish the company Good Luck!

Targeted failure of the week. Post No 47. Thermodox

Thermodox looks like being extremely sexy approach for the treatment of HCC:

 

Who could imagine that this nice approach could fail???

Celsion Corp. (NASDAQ:CLSN) fell $6.51 (81%) to $1.51 on Thursday after reporting that IV ThermoDox plus radiofrequency ablation missed the primary endpoint of improving progression-free survival (PFS) vs. radiofrequency ablation alone in the Phase III HEAT trial to treat non-resectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The double-blind, sham-controlled trial was designed to show a 33% improvement in PFS with 80% power and a p-value of 0.05. Celsion, which has an SPA from FDA for the trial, said it will consider following the 701 patients enrolled in the trial to evaluate the secondary endpoint of overall survival (OS). The company declined to provide details, but said it is also conducting additional analysis of the data to assess the "future strategic value" of ThermoDox.

Another magic cure against cancer. Post No 24.

From here:

ImmunGene and Caliber Biotherapeutics are launching Valor Biotherapeutics as a joint venture. The upstart plans to use technology developed at UCLA to create new cancer therapies that marry antibodies to interferon, with licenses to three mAb-IFN fusion product candidates now in preclinical development. Singhvi, who will lead Valor, is the managing director of Caliber.

The idea driving the startup came from the lab of Professor Sherie Morrison at UCLA, which was licensed to ImmunGene. Morrison's mAb-IFN fusion protein technology is designed to deliver a payload of interferon right to specific tumor sites, similar to the approach taken by other antibody-drug conjugate programs.

Well, the approach to combine mAbs with IFN is in accordance with the modern paradigm, however there are even sexier approaches in terms of investment attraction. In any way we have to wish the authors of the idea good luck in hope that the approach will be helpful in our understanding of what works against cancer and what doesn't.

GBI report: Drug Delivery

A new GBI report was issued: Innovations in Drug Delivery - Broad-based Proprietary Technology Platforms to Address Delivery Efficiency and Improve Patient Compliance

Drug delivery technologies provide commercial opportunities for pharmaceutical companies by improving the chances of success for a drug development project. They enable the formulation of a promising molecule that might have poor solubility or require selective delivery to a particular tissue, such as the brain. Similarly, drug delivery technologies may enable companies to differentiate products within crowded therapeutic areas, facilitate life cycle management for existing drugs, and reposition existing drugs – proprietary or generic – in new indications where the needs of the patient population are different or, again, where more targeted delivery is required. Products that are reformulated with novel drug delivery systems do not meet the traditional criteria for innovative products – in other words, products that include new active moieties. Nevertheless, GBI Research’s analysis shows that the commercial success of existing products that rely on innovative drug delivery technologies is clear, and these products make significant positive changes for patients.

Well, it can be interesting...