Nanexa selects the substance for the NEX-18 product project
News
Uppsala 11th December 2018
Nanexa selects the substance for the NEX-18 product project
Nanexa has begun the preclinical development of NEX-18 and has now conducted a technical evaluation of 5-azacitidine in the company’s PharmaShell® process. The evaluation clearly shows that PharmaShell® coated 5-azacitidine provides a slower dissolution of the substance in in vitro dissolution experiments, which enables the preparation of a depot preparation of the substance that is the target of the project.
5-azacitidine is currently used to treat both myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and is the active substance in the product Vidaza® marketed by Celgene. The goal of NEX-18 is to develop an improved product with an extended release profile that can replace today’s treatment and which also receives patent protection when formulated with Nanexa’s PharmaShell® technology.
Today’s treatment consists of repeated treatment cycles with seven daily injections of Vidaza followed by 21 days without treatment, while the goal is that an injection of NEX-18 should be sufficient for the entire 28-day cycle. This single injection, with the help of PharmaShell®, can extend the time that the active substance is available in the bloodstream and through this potential, in addition to significantly simplifying the treatment, provide a more effective cancer treatment and at the same time provide an opportunity to reduce the side effects.
The company’s CEO David Westberg comments:
Although these results were expected for us, it is gratifying that we have now obtained the verifying results required to be able to select active substance for the NEX-18 project. In addition, 5-azacitidine is the substance in which we see the most potential.
We will now proceed with optimization of the process and planning and implementation of in vivo experiments with PharmaShell® coated 5-azacitidine. We believe that the NEX-18 product has great potential; partly by improving an already functioning treatment and partly as a basic treatment together with some of the new products that are expected to be introduced on the market.
For further information:
Nanexa AB (publ)
David Westberg, VD
Phone: +46 709 42 83 03
E mail: david.westberg@nanexa.se
www.nanexa.com
About Nanexa AB (publ)
Nanexa AB is a nanotechnology drug delivery company focusing on the development of PharmaShell®, which is a new and groundbreaking drug delivery system that is expected to have great potential in a number of medical indications. Within the framework of PharmaShell®, Nanexa has partnership agreements with among others, AstraZeneca.