Precision Medicine for the Management of Chronic Inflammatory Diseases

Systemic drug administration has conventionally been prescribed to alleviate persistent local inflammation which is prevalent in chronic diseases. However, this approach is associated with drug-induced toxicity, particularly when the dosage exceeds what is necessitated from the pathological conditions of the diseased tissues.

This technology developed is a novel drug delivery technology that is activated to enable the release of appropriate drug payload according to the patient’s condition on the level of disease severity. The drug delivery system is a modular hybrid hydrogel carrier encapsulating the required anti-inflammatory drug which is triggered to release upon exposure to elevated markers of inflammation such as increased protease activity which is commonly upregulated in inflammatory diseases.  

The technology has been validated for its material, safety, and toxicity studies on ex vivo exudates of clinical samples, in vivo wound model, and arthritis diseased mouse model. The primary targeted indication is Rheumatoid arthritis based on its significant disease unmet need and market size. It aims to become a platform technology as an effective therapy against chronic inflammatory diseases such as inflammation bowel diseases, chronic wounds and topical application.

The convenience of the technology offers significant societal benefits, particularly for ageing populations where the incidence of pain and inflammation arising from diseases becomes prevalent with age while potentially eliminating adverse side effects from traditional delivery of drug administration.  The technology owner is seeking for collaborations with clinicians, biopharma, biotech companies looking for novel drug delivery systems.

The platform technology is based on a hydrogel system with a proprietary modular design for which drug component and inflammation-sensing component can be selected and tailored based on the profile of an inflammatory disease of interest.

Key features of this platform drug delivery technology are:

1. Modular in design
2. Immuno-compatible
3. Versatile for both injectable into joints and topical application on wound

This drug delivery system is formulated into an injectable pain-relieving gel for arthritic patients. With a single injection into the joints of arthritis patients, the therapeutic drug within the hydrogel formulation will be released at a dosage matching the intensity and frequency of inflammation flares to achieve prolonged control of inflammation and pain. This analgesic product solution can help arthritic patients avoid frequent steroid injections while maintaining pain-free joints with minimal risk of adverse side effects. The stage of the technolgy can be applied with Steroidal and Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) currently.

This drug delivery platform offers a versatile platform for biomarker dependant drug dose release and delivery at appropriate inflammation site via either an injectable or topical application to effectively manage long-term inflammation seen in chronic conditions.

The technology can be applied to create precision therapeutics in injectable or topical formulation to treat chronic inflammation conditions such as arthritis, skin inflammatory diseases, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD), chronic wounds and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD) which can be potentially expanded to other areas including eye, skin and dental as a pain control for inflammation and the possibility of encapsulating proteins and peptides.

The estimated Total Available Market (TAM), which is the global rheumatology therapeutics market, was USD 48.4 billion in 2020 with an expected growth to USD $64.4B by 2028, expanding at a CAGR of 3.1% during this forecast period. The Serviceable Available Market (SAM), estimated base on corticosteroid market for management of arthritic flare as the primary indication, accounts for 25% of joint-pain injection market which will be worth USD $9.2 billion by 2030. The technology is in PCT national regional phase entry for several markets including USA, China, EU, Japan, Korea, and Australia. 

Key features of this precision medicine:

• Effective management of inflammatory condition
• Minimize adverse side effects
• Minimize frequency of drug administration