Windtree Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, and Eleison Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, jointly announced a strategic collaboration to assess the feasibility of using Windtree's proprietary pulmonary aerosol delivery system (ADS) to deliver Eleison's inhaled lipid cisplatin (ILC) potentially in combination with Windtree's KL4 surfactant.
Eleison has an exclusive worldwide license to ILC, a novel, sustained release formulation of cisplatin in a nanoscale lipid-based complex administered via inhalation or intraperitoneally. ILC, when administered by inhalation, can deliver high levels of sustained release cisplatin targeted to the lung, with minimal systemic-related toxicities. Eleison is developing ILC for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and completed a phase II study of ILC in patients with bone cancer (osteosarcoma) metastatic to the lung.
Windtree has exclusive worldwide rights to the ADS, an innovative drug delivery technology designed to aerosolize KL4 surfactant (alone or in combination with other pharmaceutical compounds). The ADS has been demonstrated to produce high output aerosol volumes with consistent and controlled output rates, particle size, and other aerosol characteristics throughout extended KL4 surfactant dosing periods and is the medical device component of Windtree's Aerosurf combination drug/device product candidate currently being studied in a phase 2 program for respiratory distress syndrome in premature infants. When used with ILC, the ADS technology may provide drug delivery advantages not possible with currently available devices and concomitant administration with KL4 surfactant may enhance local tolerability and drug delivery in the lung.
"ILC has characteristics that may enable more effective treatment of pulmonary malignancies and the ADS may augment those advantages. We are extremely excited about this research collaboration to explore the drug delivery potential of the ADS platform technology in areas beyond our RDS programme in premature neonates," commented Steve Simonson, M.D., senior vice president and chief medical officer. "It may also allow us to demonstrate that our KL4 surfactant can enhance treatment of other disorders in the lung."
Windtree Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing novel surfactant therapies for respiratory diseases and other potential applications.
Eleison's mission is to acquire, develop, and commercialize clinical stage drug candidates for "orphan" oncology indications, providing new hope for patients with rare life-threatening diseases.