Patent Issued to IRISYS, LLC for a New Liposomal Anticancer Drug Delivery System

SAN DIEGO, June 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- IRISYS, LLC, a San Diego-based provider of contract pharmaceutical development and manufacturing services, announced today that it has been issued U.S. Patent No. 11,033,530, Liposomal Anticancer Compositions. IRISYS scientists discovered a new way to deliver well-known anticancer therapeutics that may someday enable physicians to treat cancer patients more effectively for longer time periods and at higher doses with less overall toxicity.

Previous formulations of medications designed to attack cancerous cells often indiscriminately destroy normal healthy cells due to lack of targeting and specificity. This limits the amount of an otherwise effective chemotherapeutic agent that can be given to a particular patient. To reduce the broad side effect profile and toxicity of these treatments, scientists have tried multiple techniques. However, the efficacy of these formulations remains hindered by either the limited or non-specific release of the active drug.

The inventors of the IRISYS technology, Igor Nikoulin, Ph.D. (Vice President of Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing), and Yevgeniya Plekhov, M.S. (Senior Scientist), may have overcome the limitations of previous treatments by creating a new formulation of pH-targeted liposomal doxorubicin. As tumors develop, they create a more acidic environment in malignant tissues. In contrast, healthy tissues possess a much more neutral pH. By recognizing and utilizing the differential pH, they were able to evaluate different combinations of liposomes and salts that target the robust release of a weakly basic anticancer medication, in this case doxorubicin, to the more acidic tumor site, while still suppressing off-target systemic release. This results in the ability to effectively treat the cancerous cells at a specific site, while reducing the potential to destroy healthy cells and cause negative side effects.

Gerald Yakatan, Ph.D., (IRISYS CEO and Founder) commented "The issuance of a United States patent on the liposomal drug delivery system developed at IRISYS is consequential for several reasons. While the potential for the delivery system to improve the safety and efficacy of cancer therapeutics is the most important and most obvious reason, this patent is significant for other reasons as well. It demonstrates the creativity and the approach of scientists here at IRISYS who use their training, experience and insight to identify, solve and overcome problems in the pharmaceutical sciences. Throughout its 25-year history, IRISYS has prided itself on solving difficult formulation and drug delivery problems with the same type of ingenuity that is required to obtain a U.S. patent. This dedication and creativity is what makes me proud to have led and worked with these scientists over the years."     

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SOURCE IRISYS LLC