The patented and award-winning technology has the potential to “optimize the bioavailability and solubility of new drug candidates” and avoid costly drug development failures,” the Finnish company said.

Under a Master Services Agreement (MSA), Nanoform and Boehringer will co-initiate projects in the pre-clinical early development space with the aim of solving the ever-growing challenges presented by poor bioavailability and solubility.

“Wider uptake of the latest technological innovations is essential to address the low success rates for new drug candidates in pharma,” said Christian Jones, CCO of Nanoform. Cooperating with the German drugmaker, he said, will help the Finnish company to evaluate how its CESS platform can help more novel therapies reach the patients who need them. “This is the first step toward what we hope will be a long and fruitful partnership between our companies.”

Cooperation with Celanese also in the works

In May, Nanoform agreed a collaboration with US chemical producer Celanese to explore the use of the two companies’ technologies in nanoparticle-enabled drug delivery. The plan is to assess the combination of Nanoform’s nanoparticle platform with the Dallas, Texas-based company’s VitalDose EVA copolymer delivery technology for drug-eluting implants.

The companies said they would tap each other’s’ expertise to work on formulation development to explore next-generation drug delivery devices that support increased drug load and possess enhanced sustained-release properties. Celanese has a background in developing drug-eluting implants for various applications, including implants for women’s health, ophthalmology and central nervous system disorders.

Earlier in the year, Nanoform announced it was joining forces with Aprecia, a 3-D printing pharma company based in the US state of Ohio, to exploring the synergies between the companies’ respective technologies in the field of nanoparticle-enabled 3DP dosage forms. The goal here is to provide customers and the pharmaceutical industry with new capabilities in patient centric therapies.

Nanoform said the immediate product innovation target is to combine its fast dissolution nanoformed particles with Aprecia’s ZipDose technology platform for rapid disintegration. This could enable high performance buccal and oral delivery of medicines to patients where rapid absorption is essential. Additional benefits could include lower dosage products, less excipient content, and reduced pill burden.

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist