Acusphere partners with major company to use HDDS technology, announces additional HDDS patent

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, Dec. 15 - Acusphere, Inc. announced Thursday that it has signed a master research and development agreement with a major pharmaceutical company to reformulate one of that company's water insoluble compounds utilizing Acusphere's Hydrophobic Drug Delivery Systems (HDDS) technology.

Acusphere also announced that it has been awarded an additional patent covering aspects of its HDDS technology, U.S. Patent No. 6,932,983, entitled "Porous Drug Matrices and Methods of Manufacture Thereof," according to a company news release.

The partnership is a collaboration structured around a feasibility study to enhance the efficacy of a specific, existing hydrophobic anticancer agent, officials said.

Success in this study could lead to the application of HDDS technology with this partner for other compounds.

For competitive reasons, the companies have agreed not to disclose the pharmaceutical company's name or the name of the specific drug being studied.

During this feasibility study the partner is reimbursing Acusphere for its estimated costs. Upon completion of this feasibility study, both companies will assess how effectively the Acusphere HDDS technology improved the delivery of this drug and consider further options, officials said.

Acusphere said it is currently in discussions with several pharmaceutical companies regarding potential opportunities that leverage the HDDS technology.

The new patent covers methods of delivering drugs to a patient using Acusphere's unique HDDS technology and brings to 20 the total number of patents on porous microparticle technology now held by Acusphere.

Numerous routes of administration, including parenteral, mucosal, oral and topical, are described in this patent. Acusphere's HDDS approach is designed to enhance the rate of dissolution for pharmaceutically unstable formulations of drugs, particularly those having poor water solubility, officials said.

Acusphere is a Watertown, Mass., specialty pharmaceutical company that develops new drugs and improved formulations of existing drugs using its proprietary microparticle technology. The company's three initial product candidates are designed to address the areas of cardiology, oncology and asthma.

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