Potential to Develop New Oral Drug Candidates with Superior Efficacy,
Safety, Convenience, and Commercial Potential
Warren, NJ and Oxfordshire, England (November 3, 2008) – MonoSol Rx, the developers of PharmFilm®technology and a drug delivery company specializing in dissolving thin film pharmaceutical products, and Midatech Group Ltd, a world leader in the production and application of synthetically produced nanoparticles, announced today a partnership to develop new drug formulations combining biocompatible nanocells and PharmFilm delivery technologies.
Under terms of the agreement, MonoSol Rx and Midatech will jointly research, develop and commercialize new drug candidates designed to deliver therapeutic nanoparticles in thin film. Research and development will occur at MonoSol Rx’s facility in Portage, Indiana and Midatech’s facilities in Spain and Switzerland. Further terms were not disclosed.
A. Mark Schobel, president and CEO of MonoSol Rx, stated, “Our collaboration with Midatech provides us with an exciting entry into the emerging field of nanomedicine. The size and chemical composition of Midatech’s biocompatible nanocells are ideally suited for delivery using our PharmFilm technology, and should provide another avenue for us to extend the commercial potential of new and currently marketed drugs. The combination of these two complementary and well-matched technologies offers a unique opportunity to move beyond the limitations of traditional delivery formulations to create new and compelling drug candidates with the potential for greater convenience, efficacy at lower doses, and faster onset of action. Most importantly, the mating of MonoSol Rx’s and Midatech’s technologies will enable the oral delivery of many challenging drugs that up to now could not be delivered orally.”
Midatech’s biocompatible nanocells possess a number of unique properties ideal for therapeutics, diagnostics and other enabling applications. Among the attributes, Midatech’s nanocells are water soluble; can present multiple ligands, allowing for multivalent drug or multi-drug delivery on a single particle; and can be delivered via different routes of administration due to their size and stability to enzymatic digestion.
Professor Tom Rademacher, Chairman of Midatech Group, commented, “MonoSol Rx’s PharmFilm technology provides an ideal platform for us to evaluate clinical applications for our biocompatible nanocell technology. PharmFilm’s ability to carry highly uniform, accurate doses makes it well-suited to deliver our biocompatible nanocells sublingually, buccally or through traditional intragastric delivery. We look forward to working with MonoSol Rx to develop products with new methods of administration for existing drugs.”
Keith J. Kendall, executive vice president and CFO of MonoSol Rx, stated, “Midatech’s decision to partner with us is a testament to the strength and versatility of our PharmFilm technology platform. As partners, both MonoSol Rx and Midatech are well-positioned to develop and introduce the first thin film nanomedicines into the market.”
About MonoSol Rx MonoSol Rx is a specialty pharmaceutical company leveraging its proprietary PharmFilm®technology to deliver drugs in quick dissolving films. PharmFilm® is designed to benefit patients by improving the convenience, efficacy, and compliance of currently marketed drugs. The Company is a leader in thin film drug delivery and has a strong intellectual property position, a portfolio of commercialized OTC drug products, and a pipeline of prescription formulations utilizing its PharmFilm® technology. With a vertically integrated development and production infrastructure, MonoSol Rx has the capacity to manufacture OTC drug products for near-term revenues that enable the funding of prescription product development programs that will generate long-term value. The Company’s commercialization strategy for all PharmFilm® products is to partner with the innovator or other specialty pharma or leading consumer products companies who have the core competency to sell-in and manage the sales and marketing of the products. For the Company’s existing and future partners, PharmFilm® formulations represent revenue-life cycle extensions for products with patent lives that have expired or are approaching expiration. PharmFilm® is also a tool to help sales and marketing partners differentiate in competitive markets while offering unique advantages over drugs dosed by traditional tablets, capsules and ODTs.
About Midatech Group Midatech Group Ltd is a world leader in the design, synthesis and manufacture of biocompatible nanoparticles. These nanoparticles can be used to create a wide variety of products with novel characteristics, functions and applications that have the potential for multiple diagnostic and therapeutic applications.
Created in 2000, Midatech has IP covering design, manufacture and application/use of nanoparticles in both diagnostic and therapeutic pharmaceutical areas. As well as in-house product development, it is prepared to licence this IP to 3rd Party pharmaceutical and diagnostic development partners whilst retaining manufacturing rights. Midatech has exclusive world-wide rights for technology relating to the synthesis and applications of self-assembling nanoparticles. The Company opened a cGMP standard design and manufacturing plant for nanocells – Midatech Biogune – in Bilbao, Spain in 2007.