Midatech and Monosol Rx, building on their joint patent filing in August of thin-film delivery technology for diabetes, have consummated that relationship by forming a joint venture to commercialize the insulin delivery technology.
Midatech, a U.K.-based company that designs and synthesizes nanoscale particles, has collaborated since 2008 with New Jersey's MonoSol to develop thin-film drug delivery methods. Midatech makes the medicine nanosize, and Monosol delivers it in a way that is easy to swallow without water--a postage-stamp-sized film similar to a breath strip.
The joint venture will focus on diabetics who are dependent on invasive insulin injections. "Based on the results of our pre-clinical studies to date, Midatech and MonoSol Rx intend to accelerate the development of Nanoinsulin PharmFilm, which we believe has the potential to offer an unprecedented treatment option for diabetes sufferers around the world," A. Mark Schobel, president and CEO of MonoSol Rx, says in a statement.
In support of an investigational new drug submission for human clinical studies, the two companies are now finishing preclinical studies of buccally delivered insulin in diet-induced diabetic primates and expect to announce data by the end of this year. The companies plan to initiate Phase I clinical trials during the second quarter of 2011.
- read the MonoSol release