Stockholm's Redwood Pharma AB has completed private placement worth 6.6 million Swedish kronor ($770,000) as its chronic dry eye disease candidate in combination with a hydrogel-based drug delivery platform designed to enable sustained release.
Redwood says the candidate, dubbed RP101, has undergone two Phase II trials, and will now be tested in combination with so-called Intelligel.
Redwood exclusively licensed Intelligel from Broda Technologies of Shanghai in June. Redwood described the material as a free-forming liquid with low concentrations of polymer that can be "transitioned to a gel at specific temperatures."
Benefits of the drug delivery enhancements should include lower and less frequent dosing, says the company website.
According to the Broda website, RP101 was released over 12 hours when formulated in Intelligel, compared to four hours otherwise.
"Market interest within the pharmaceutical community has never been greater in the last 15 years for new medicines within ophthalmology. With the completion of this private placement, the company is well positioned to show the positive effects of the combination of our active substance and the slow-release technology," CEO Martin Vidaeus said in a release.
RP101 is specifically designed to treat the underlying cause of chronic dry eye disease in postmenopausal women.
- read the release