New Delivery Platform Discussed at Partnerships Meeting


On January 26, 2012, at the Drug Delivery Partnerships meeting in Las Vegas, a new drug delivery platform was discussed during the session titled Preformulation is the New Formulation: Work with Discovery Teams to Determine Formulation and Delivery Strategies.

The session was chaired by Paul Gellert (Astra Zeneca) and included panelists Geoffrey Hird, Principal Scientist, Formulation and Drug Delivery Technologies at Eisai Inc.; Michael Kaufmann, Vice President, Pharmaceutical Sciences at Millennium; and Robert Lee, Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development at Particle Sciences.

Particle Sciences and Millennium Pharmaceuticals separately presented on the work they have been doing together on the targeted delivery of chemotherapeutics. As described in the presentations, the chemotherapeutic was delivered in a series of particulates designed to alter the drug’s biodistribution; increasing the tumor-to-plasma ratio while decreasing its hepatic distribution to minimize toxicity.

Two types of particles were presented and compared to a cyclodextrin solution formulation. The data presented by Dr. Kaufman clearly showed that one of the particulate formulations accomplished the goals. Details of the particle’s composition were not discussed.

In a post-presentation discussion, Dr. Lee noted that Particle Sciences is working with a number of companies on such approaches and expects the technology to be in the clinic this year. For more information on the technology visit the companies’ websites at www.particlesciences.com or www.millennium.com.