Specialty pharma company Glide Pharma announced at Bio2008 that it has signed agreements with two more partners to evaluate the Glide SDI solid dose injector
This follows a deal in February with another leading pharmaceutical company for the delivery of one of its branded peptide products.
The Glide SDI is now in feasibility studies with five partners, including two of the top ten pharma companies.
The latest studies involve biologics and include a major vaccine company and a listed US biotech company for a home-delivered product.
Responding to the latest developments Glide Pharma's CEO, Charles Potter, said: "There is particular interest in the Glide SDI system for the injection of biopharmaceuticals and vaccines.
"The key benefits of the Glide SDI include improved stability of the solid dose, ease-of-use because the system is so simple and there are no reconstitution steps, and safety, as there is no danger of needle-stick injuries.
"With these benefits, we believe that the Glide SDI is set to make major improvements in the injection of biologics, in a market which is predicted to grow to over $50 billion by 2012.
In parallel with the partnering successes, Glide Pharma is also working with the UK's National Institute of Biological Standards and Control (NISBC) that has been conducting studies on vaccine administration using formulations developed by Glide Pharma.
Preliminary data suggest enhanced efficacy for vaccines delivered by the Glide SDI compared with those delivered traditionally in a liquid formulation using a needle and syringe.
Further trials are being undertaken to confirm these potentially very significant findings.
With an increasing number of projects under way, Glide Pharma is currently expanding its facilities at Milton Park, near Oxford, UK, to cope with the increasing demand.
"Our work up until this year has focused mainly on development and production of the Glide SDI and our internal drug development programmes, particularly octreotide and fentanyl", concluded Potter.
"2008 has really been the turning point for us in terms of attracting external partners that want to apply the Glide technology to their products.
"We are expecting to sign further evaluation agreements, as well as convert those that we have to full development relationships, over the coming months."
