INDUSTRY FOCUS
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Delivering the goods
DRUGDELIVERYis an areawhere Ireland is rapidly building its expertise – and Prof DavidBrayden atUniversity College Dublin (UCD) is one of the lead- ing names in the field. “Our research is translational,we
take other people’s drugs, andwe look to reformulate themormake theminto nanomedicines and deliver themby other routes,” says ProfBrayden,who is associate professor of drug delivery at UCD. “Companies come to us because we have systems for testing the drug de- livery. So the idea is thatwe canmodel formulations and take themthrough early tests, then companieswould take themto human trials.” In some cases, you canmakemedica-
tionswork better – and easier to take – by formulating themin a differentway. “Wewould take biotechmolecules
that are normally injected andwe are trying to convert themto oral, airway or locally-delivered formulations,” he con- tinues. One project in his lab looks tomake
allows drugs to be formulated so that patients can swallowthem and the therapeutic is released in a targetedway in the intes- tine – so that in diseases such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s it couldmore effectively get to in- flamed tissue. The technology could also be used to develop next generation vaccines that may be taken orally rather than by injection. “Theemphasis is on the devel-
‘Companies come to us becausewe have systems for testing the drug delivery’
PROFDAVIDBRAYDEN, UNIVERSITYCOLLEGEDUBLIN
diabetes treatments available as oral medications, and heworks on this in in- dependent projectswithmultinational NovoNordisk and the Irish company Merrion Pharmaceuticals. ProfBrayden also directs the Irish Drug Delivery
Network, an SFI-funded cluster that links academic groups inUCD,Trinity College Dublin, theRoyal Col- lege of Surgeons andUCCwith industry partners Arch Therapeutics, Sigmoid Pharma,Aerogen and Genzyme Ireland. They are currentlyworking on a range of projects
that look to deliver established biologicsmore effec- tively bymouth or by inhaling theminto the lungs. The network is alsoworking on delivering entities that so far have not been delivered successfully by any route,with the potential to target brain condi- tions and osteoarthritis. One company in the network, Sigmoid Pharma, has developed an innovative technology,SmPill,which
opment of patient-friendlymed- icines that aremore effective and safe,” says Sigmoid co- founder andCEODr Ivan Coul- ter.
Last year the company,which
is based at Dublin CityUniver- sity, scoopedTheIrishTimesIn- terTradeIreland Innovation Award, and it has gone from strength to strength in develop- ing its proprietary drug-delivery technologies. Sigmoid has completed a
human Phase IIa clinical study in ulcerative colitis and is plan- ning to initiate a number of other clinical studies in a range
of gastrointestinal diseases. The planned studieswill be performed at clinics in Ireland, Europe and the US. “Ireland is an ideal location for a company such as
Sigmoid,” says Dr Coulter. “There is anembedded and growing expertise in both large-scalemanufacturing and innovative drug delivery technology develop- ment. In parallel, there is a generation of young, in- ternationally-renowned principal investigatorswith an expertise in basic research and strong capabilities to performtranslational research.Working closely with a number of such investigators, Sigmoid is a con- duit frompre-clinical research, through clinical de- velopment and towards commercialising products in partnershipwithlarger co-developmentpharmaceutical companies.”
Issue 3 Autumn/Winter 2011 INNOVATION IRELAND REVIEW 19
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