Vyteris, Inc., developer of the first FDA-approved active transdermal patch and a leader in alternative drug delivery technology, today announced an agreement with the Georgia Tech Research Corporation of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) granting Vyteris the option to exclusively license Georgia Tech’s patented thermal ablation and microdevice fabrication technologies for transdermal drug delivery.
The thermal ablation technology is designed to selectively enhance skin permeation to allow delivery of therapeutic drugs of high molecular weight, including peptides and proteins, through the skin, eliminating the need to inject or infuse such drugs with hypodermic needles. The microdevice fabrication technology provides a novel method to manufacture microstructures for drug delivery using mild conditions that do not harm encapsulated drugs. Vyteris plans to work closely with Georgia Tech to identify therapies that would be appropriate for the application of the new technologies.
Georgia Tech’s proprietary thermal ablation and microdevice fabrication technologies were developed by Dr. Mark R. Prausnitz, Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a leader in developing energy-based and microneedle-based transdermal delivery systems. Dr. Prausnitz has received major research awards from the National Science Foundation, Controlled Release Society, Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society, Technology Review Magazine and American Society for Engineering Education.
Dr. Prausnitz commented: “Transdermal drug delivery, in addition to doing away with painful needles, can empower patients to better control their medication schedule, improves drug efficacy in many cases, and offers the promise of reduced healthcare costs. The thermal ablation-based transdermal delivery systems may be beneficial to improving the lives of patients around the world. Our agreement with Vyteris is an important step toward bringing Georgia Tech’s advanced transdermal drug delivery technologies to patients in need.”
“This is a significant inflection point for Vyteris that we believe enhances the Companies’ current transdermal capabilities by providing access to these innovative technologies from Dr. Prausnitz’ laboratory,” said Haro Hartounian, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Vyteris, Inc. “Georgia Tech’s thermal ablation and microdevice fabrication technologies are potentially complementary to our active transdermal smart patch technology, and may allow Vyteris to deliver a much broader range of therapeutic drugs through the skin. We look forward to working with Dr. Prausnitz and his team in advancing these combined drug delivery technologies toward clinical testing.”
Under terms of the agreement, Georgia Tech will be entitled to royalty and milestone payments connected to the development and potential commercialization of products which incorporate the technologies. Specific financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
