Encap Drug Delivery and Lena Nanoceutics have announced a collaboration agreement to develop a new drug delivery technology (nano-capsules) which combines Lena’s proprietary nano-particle engineering technology with Encap’s liquid filled hard capsule technology.

One of the major challenges in oral drug delivery is the development of formulations for improved absorption of poorly soluble and poorly absorbed drugs. There are a number of technologies available to enhance bioavailability, amongst others nano-crystals or nano-particles, and liquid fill formulations. The nano-particle approach results in a decrease in particle size, an increased surface area and therefore a faster dissolution. In some cases, this has been demonstrated to result in increased bioavailability of the active drug. Liquid fill formulations which can be solutions or suspensions of drug in non-aqueous liquids have also proven in many cases to produce significant bioavailability enhancement.

“We believe that there are considerable synergies to be achieved by combining the nano-particle and liquid fill technologies particularly for low solubility and low permeability compounds.” said Dr Stephen Brown, CEO at Encap. “Lena Nanoceutics have made very significant advances in the science and engineering of particle milling and we are delighted to be collaborating with them on this important project.”

Preliminary in-vitro data generated using itraconazole as a model compound has shown improved dissolution rate when both nano-particulate and liquid fill formulations were compared to standard particulate drug formulations. More interestingly, an even greater improvement was found when the nano-particle technology was combined with liquid fill technology.