Nov 14 2010
The Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies, established in 2007 to enable Government policy in the field of Nanotechnology, will finance production of transdermal drug delivery systems and nanostructured biopolymer medical implants to fight socially significant diseases.
The project has a budget of 488.2 million rubles. RUSNANO will invest 128 million rubles in owner’s equity of the project company and extend to it a loan of 97 million rubles. Earnings in 2015 are forecasted at 685 million rubles.
The applicant for the project, BIOMIR Service, is a Russian developer and manufacturer of innovative materials with medical applications. The project is headed by Victor Sevastyanov, doctor of science (biology), professor, head of the Department for the Study of Biomaterials at the Research Institute of Transplantology and Artificial Organs, and director of the Institute of Medical-Biological Research and Technology.
The project will finalize development and establish production of transdermal therapeutic patches that deliver various medications to the body through the skin. Project leaders expect to bring to the market a number of familiar medications in transdermal form: insulin, propranolol, acetylsalicylic acid, chlorpropamide, lidocaine, caffeine, testosterone, acizol. The substances are not capable of penetrating the skin on their own. To facilitate their permeation, researchers have developed a method of transport using micro- and nano-sized micelles. The surface of the micelles is formed with lipid molecules that rearrange themselves depending upon the environment in which the micelle is placed. This unique quality enables the micelle to pass undeterred through surface layers of the skin and release the medical substance directly in the bloodstream.
The transdermal medical patches produced within the project are expected to capture from one percent (transdermal anti-inflammatory drugs) to 30 percent (transdermal local anesthetics) of their market segments. The technology of transdermal introduction is in particularly high demand for delivery of protein molecules, such as insulin, which are essential for treating illnesses that impose a heavy burden on society, like diabetes.
The elimination of discomfort and the convenience of drugs manufactured for transdermal delivery will be serious competition for traditional injection delivery of the same medications. This is especially important for the treatment of chronic illnesses that require the patient to take drugs for life; today many of these drugs are available only in injection. There is another benefit in the transdermal patch: by freeing the drug in the bloodstream evenly over a period of 24–48 hours or more, the organism assimilates it better and treatment becomes more effective. That reduces the cost of treatment, thereby making it available to more patients.
The project will expand production of recently introduced biocompatible and regeneration-inducing medical implants—injectible biopolymer gel and biopolymer membrane—for application in traumatology, gastroenterology, neurosurgery, and cosmetic surgery. The implants form a biocompatible extracellular matrix, a three-dimensional template that induces the regenerative processes in vitally important organs such as liver, pancreas and spinal cord that have been damaged through trauma or surgical operations, including tumor removal.
By structuring the biocompatible and biodegradable implant’s material at the nano level, scientists create advantageous conditions for manageable growth, differentiation and metabolism of the cells of the damaged tissues. With this mode of treatment, patients can now look forward to rehabilitation that substantially improve their quality of life. The technology is highly suited to adaptation in cosmetology and plastic surgery, for the repair of scars from accidents and operations and even effective removal of wrinkles due to skin tissue regeneration.
Biocompatible implants are expected to win market share of 15 percent to 20 percent in the segments in which they are used.