Superporous Hydrogels for Pharmaceutical & Other Applications

Superporous Hydrogels for Pharmaceutical & Other Applications
Kinam Park, PhD, Akina, Inc.
Drug Delivery Technology
Please visit the web site to view the article in its entirety.
INTRODUCTION
For the Past few decades, the pharmaceutical industry has experienced impressive growth year after year. Continuous introduction of life-saving drugs has propelled this growth. Beginning several years ago, however, the pharmaceutical industry has been experiencing difficulties in producing new drugs. The rate of introduction of new drugs is much less than the rate of blockbuster drugs coming off patent. There are many factors that contributed to the recent downturn in the pharmaceutical industry. The research and development of the pharmaceutical companies is not as productive as it used to be. In addition, the cost of new drug development is escalating every year, and one estimate indicates that the average cost of new drug development is $500 million. While there is no doubt that new drugs are the most important component in drug formulations, drug delivery technologies are also an important component in producing products on the market. Controlled-release technologies allow for effective use of existing drugs and successful development of new drug candidates.
Developing new drug delivery technologies and utilizing them in product development is critical for pharmaceutical companies to survive. This applies to all pharmaceutical companies, regardless of their size. In his book, J?rgen Drews has emphasized that the pharmaceutical industry must accomplish more than it has to date with more modest financial resources.1 One way of achieving this is to apply drug delivery technologies. Advances in drug delivery are occurring at a rapid pace, and it is important to keep up with innovations and applications of these technologies.
To participate in this exciting field of controlled drug delivery at various levels ranging from basic research on delivery technology to product development, we recently started a drug delivery company, called Akina, Inc. Table 1 lists research and development activities at Akina. As the first of a series of articles describing the technologies of which Akina is involved, this article focuses on the use of superporous hydrogels in the development of pharmaceutical, biomedical, and other applications.
REFERENCES
1. Drews J. Quest of Tomorrow's Medicines. New York, NY: Springer-Verlag; New York; 1999.
2. Wichterle O, Lim, D. Hydrophilic gels for biological use. Nature. 1960;185:117-118.
3. Chen J, Blevins WE, Park H, Park K. Gastric retention properties of superporous hydrogel composites. J Controlled Rel. 2000;64:39-51.
4. Shalaby WSW, Blevins WE, Park K. In vitro and in vivo studies of enzyme-digestible hydrogels for oral drug delivery. J Controlled Rel. 1992;19:131-144.
5. Shalaby WSW, Blevins WE, Park K. The use of ultrasound imaging and fluoroscopic imaging to study gastric retention of enzyme-digestible hydrogels. Biomaterials. 1992;13:289-296.
6. Dorkoosh FA, Borchard G, Rafiee-Tehrani M, Verhoef JC, Junginger HE. Evaluation of superporous hydrogel (SPH) and SPH composite in porcine intestine ex-vivo: assessment of drug transport, morphology effect, and mechanical fixation to intestinal wall. Eur J Pharm Biopharm. 2002;53:161-166.
7. Dorkoosh FA, Verhoef JC, Borchard G, Rafiee-Tehrani M, Junginger HE. Development and characterization of a novel peroral peptide drug delivery system. J Controlled Rel. 2001;71:307-318.
8. Dorkoosh FA, Verhoef JC, Ambragts MHC, Rafiee-Tehrani M, Borchard G, Junginger HE. Peroral delivery systems based on superporous hydrogel polymers: release characteristics for the peptide drugs buserelin, octreotide, and insulin. Pharm Sci. (In press).
9. Dorkoosh FA, Verhoef JC, Verheijden JHM, Rafiee-Tehrani M, Borchard G, Junginger HE. Peroral absorption of octreotide in pigs formulated in delivery systems based on superporous hydrogel polymers. Pharm Res. (in press).
0. Chang R-K, Guo X, Burnside BA, Couch RA. Fast-dissolving tablet. Pharm Technol. 2000;24(6):52-58.
11. Kallmes DF, Fujiwara NH, Max WF. Angiographic and histologic evaluation of an expandable hydrogel material for aneurysm embolization. Paper 107 presented at the 37th Annual meeting of the American Society of Neuroradiology, April 2-8, 2002; Dallas.
12. Ciceri EF, Dickerson J, Klueznik RP, Moret J, Mawad ME. Embolization of experimental porcine aneurysms with a combination platinum coils and hydrogel material. Paper 106 presented at 37th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Neuroradiology, April 2-8, 2002; Dallas.