Smart Drugs

Reference number: STC-PS-0924
Inventor(s): K. Cahill
For more information, contact: Jovan Heusser, M.B.A. (505-272-7908) or Erin M. Beaumont (505-272-7912)

Patent(s)

Application(s) pending

Background

One of the central problems in medicine is how to deliver a drug to a specific cell type or group of cells rather than to all cells in a given area. This is actually a problem that has two components, the first being how to carry a drug across the cell membrane and the second being how to deliver it only to the targeted cells.

Although there are well known and effective techniques to carry drugs across the cell membrane with a mass up to 4500 Da, larger drugs are limited to endocytosis to get into the cell. The problem with this pathway, however, is that it is highly acidic and often degrades the therapeutic before it reaches the inside of the cell. Due to this drawback, it is highly desirable to discover a technique in which larger drugs can be endocytosed into the cell, yet escape the acidic environment of endocytosis. Such a technique could be achieved through mimicking the way the flu virus uses hemogglutinin to escape endosomes (one of the key vesicles involved in endocytosis).

Technology

This innovative technology relates to bioactive agents such as drugs which can be targeted to specific cells or cell types and can be effectively transported across cell membranes. This is achieved by modifying the structure of the pharmaceutical so it can first escape the acidic environment of endocytosis and second only be cleaved by proteases present on cancer cells to enter the cell. This technology discloses the specific chemical structure and the detailed means by which our “smart drugs” can target and enter specific cells. It is believed that this novel technology resolves the medical issue associated with delivering larger drugs to explicit cells rather than all cells for highly advanced and cell-specific therapy.

Applications/Advantages

• An enhanced therapeutic method for treating diseases by targeting specific cells / tissues
• An effective treatment with reduced side effects for cancers and other conditions since our drugs target and penetrate specific cells rather than all cells
• Drugs and bioactive agents larger than 600 Da can be effectively transported across cell membranes while escaping the acidic environment of endocytosis.
• These “smart drugs” provide highly advanced and cell-specific therapy for numerous disease states and conditions.

Keywords

Drug Delivery

Related Categories

• Compounds/Other Therapeutic Agents and Methods
• Materials, Chemistry, and Chemical Engineering