Technology

Market Needs & Issues

Most powerful drugs are:

  • Difficult to administer
    (peaks & troughs in dosing profiles)
  • Painful
  • Highly reactive with the immune system making them unsuitable for use in native form

The PEG molecule addresses these problems BUT it has inherent limitations/functional issues

  • Toxicity
  • Accumulation in the liver, kidney and brain
  • Potential immunogenicity
  • Problematic syntheses
  • Patents which are tightly controlled or expiring
  • Restrictive/expensive licensing rights
 

The Caisson Advantage

The heparosan-based bio-superior drug delivery system is suitable for

  • Joint development with drug developers with their own drug candidates
  • Drug developers wanting to license our hepylated drug candidates
  • Drug developers wanting the supply of the heparosan molecule and rights to use the heparosn-based system for their own drug conjugate development program

Key Technology Features

It is “bio-inert”.
The body produces no extracellular enzymes that degrade it, and there are no known receptors or binding proteins for heparosan.

It is “bio-stealthy”.
The immune system does not see heparosan, thus does not make antibodies against it
(in fact, certain pathogens employ this polymer as molecular camouflage!).

It is “bio-compatible”.
It is made in the body thus causing no harm when eventually degraded.

It is “bio-flexible”
A variety of heparosan polymers can be made in a uniform,“monodisperse” manner.

Key Technology Differentiation from PEG

The heparosan-based system is bio-superior to PEG.

  • No known toxic effects
  • Longer residence (circulation) time of the drug in the body
  • Greater solubility in water
  • Safe absorption/excretion
  • A range of therapeutic dosing profiles
  • Adaptable to many drugs (as well as nanoparticles or liposomes)
  • New and Novel Intellectual Property

Proof of Concept Studies to Date

3 Pharmacokinetic (PK) studies in small animals with several polymer sizes

  • Polymer production reproducibility
  • Monodispersity = 1.06 to 1.18
  • Monodisperse polymers of wide size range 10 to 800kDa
  • Data indicates > 2x increase in half-life over PEG of similar size
  • Stable in bloodstream
  • No detectable accumulation in organs
  • Degrades into simple sugars that are recycled or excreted
  • Gentle cargo conjugation/multiple types of linkage
  • Delivery via intravenous (IV), intramuscular  (IM) and intraperitoneal (IP) injection routes
  • Rheology study confirmed heparosan is not viscous – thus “injection” friendly