What is PharmaShell®?

PharmaShell® is Nanexa’s patented drug delivery platform for the development of long-acting injectable medicines. The technology combines controlled release with a high proportion of active pharmaceutical ingredient, which may enable low injection volumes and administration using a fine needle.

The platform has successfully been applied on a wide range of active pharmaceutical ingredients, from small molecules to biologics. This creates opportunities to develop long-acting formulations across multiple therapeutic areas, both within Nanexa’s own development programmes and in collaboration with pharmaceutical partners.

PharmaShell® encapsulates microscopic particles of active pharmaceutical ingredient with an ultra-thin and dense inorganic coating. The coating is applied using Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD), a gas-phase process in which material is deposited atom layer by atom layer around each particle.

The composition and thickness of the coating can be tailored to achieve the desired release profile. The coated particles are administered as a suspension and form a depot at the injection site. As the coating gradually dissolves, the active pharmaceutical ingredient becomes available and is released over time. In this way, the release profile can be designed to support treatment over extended periods ranging from weeks to months.

PharmaShell® has been developed for broad applicability. Nanexa has evaluated the technology with both small molecules and biologics, including peptides, proteins, monoclonal antibodies, oligonucleotides and mRNA. The ALD process takes place under dry conditions and at low temperatures, making it suitable for sensitive pharmaceutical substances.

The ultra-thin coating adds only a limited amount of material, and the drug molecule does not need to be chemically modified to create a long-acting formulation. The coating may also help protect the active substance during storage and while it remains in the depot. The specific formulation, stability profile and release characteristics are developed and evaluated for each individual substance.

Atomic Layer Deposition is a precision coating technology that has long been used in industries such as semiconductor manufacturing. In PharmaShell®, Nanexa has adapted the technology for pharmaceutical formulation development. Through a series of controlled gas-phase reactions, the coating is built up one atomic layer at a time on the surface of the drug particles.

The method provides precise control over coating thickness, composition and uniformity. These properties influence how quickly the coating dissolves after injection and therefore how the medicine is released. Nanexa’s ALD processes are performed at low temperatures and without solvents and have been developed to support reproducible manufacturing and future scale-up.