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Aegis' Intravail(R) Technology Provides Effective Oral Delivery of Anti-Sense Drugs in Primates

Posted on: Wednesday, 15 November 2006, 18:01 CST

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(R) 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(R) 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(R) 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(R) 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(TM) 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(TM) 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.

 Contact: Ralph Barry Chief Business Officer Aegis Therapeutics LLC 1-858-618-1400 Ext. 102 Email: Contact via http://www.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct?id=C692566D3C4A807B  

SOURCE: Aegis Therapeutics

Source: MARKET WIRE

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