Irish drug delivery company Elan Drug Technologies (EDT) has announced that the first injectable product using its NanoCrystal technology has been approved by the European Commission. The European body gave the OK for Janssen-Cilag's XEPLION, an injectable schizophrenia treatment that uses EDT's NanoCrystal technology.
"The European approval of XEPLION is an important milestone for our NanoCrystal technology as it marks the first long-acting injectable product approved by the European regulatory authorities using this technology," Shane Cooke, Elan executive vice president and head of EDT said in a statement. "The versatility of our NanoCrystal technology enabled the development of a long-acting injectable antipsychotic which is designed to help patients maintain continual treatment, reduce the likelihood of relapse and thereby potentially improve their overall quality of life."
For the past decade or so, EDT has been working on, and perfecting, its NanoCrystal technology, which essentially is a milling technique that breaks down drug crystal sizes to less than 2,000 nanometers. This solution addresses one major problem facing pharmaceutical science today: poor solubility of drugs. Even the most successful drugs often have trouble dissolving, so drugmakers tack on compounds to make them more soluble. But those compounds can also add more side-effects.
EDT says its NanoCrystal technology enables the formulation of poorly water soluble compounds for all routes of administration. XEPLION is indicated for maintenance treatment of schizophrenia in adult patients stabilised with paliperidone or risperidone.
- read Elan's release
- and learn more about NanoCrystal technology