Alchemy - Issue 27 | Page 15

A novel drug delivery technology, developed by researchers at MIPS, has been acquired by Capsugel, a global leader in innovative dose-form development. Monash and Capsugel announced in January that Capsugel had acquired the intellectual property pertaining to proprietary ionic liquid technology developed by researchers at MIPS led by Professors Chris Porter and Peter Scammells. The novel technology uses lipid-like counter-ions to transform crystalline drugs into ionic liquids. This leads to significant increases in drug solubility in lipid-based liquid, semi-solid and multiparticulate formulations. Under the terms of the agreement, Monash transferred its patent application and associated results and know-how to Capsugel, and Capsugel extended its existing research collaborations with Professors Pouton, Scammells and Porter at MIPS by funding additional research positions to accelerate the ionic liquid technology and future drug-delivery projects. Professor Chris Porter said the technology was the result of a collaborative effort involving a number of MIPS labs and was excited to see the technology being implemented by industry. “The ionic liquids technology will allow Capsugel to significantly increase drug solubility, reduce absorption variability, decrease excipient levels and reduce pill burden,” he said. Capsugel has a long history of collaboration with MIPS-based researchers in lipid-based drug delivery science. This includes co-founding the Lipid Formulation Classification System (LFCS) Consortium to advance and standardise evaluation protocols for lipid-based drug-delivery systems. Professor Bill Charman, Director of MIPS, said the technology licence and research collaboration agreement was a further and substantial step in a decade-long partnership with Capsugel. “We are thrilled to partner with Capsugel to advance the development of the i