Prosonix, a speciality pharmaceutical company developing a portfolio of inhaled respiratory medicines enabled by its state-of-art- particle engineering technology, has signed a collaborative research agreement with Imperial College London to accelerate the development of engineered Multi-Component Particles (MCPs) as respiratory medicines.

Under the collaboration agreement Prosonix will work closely with Dr Omar Usmani, an internationally recognised expert in respiratory diseases and inhaled drug delivery at the College's National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI). Its aim is to develop a deeper understanding of how MCPs can be translated into new respiratory medicines with significant clinical benefits compared to existing combination formulations in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. Results from the Collaboration are intended to accelerate the development of Prosonix' PSX2000 MCP Series of novel combination medicines, with the aim of advancing one or more MCP candidates into formal preclinical/proof of concept studies in 2013.

Prosonix' drug particle engineering approach and expertise has enabled the development of MCPs that combine two active respiratory drug molecules consistently in a pre-determined ratio in each and every particle in the formulation, without the need for additional excipients. The scope of the collaboration is to investigate MCPs in in vitro and in vivo models of the lung. It will also compare key performance criteria, including synergistic effects in reducing inflammation and improving bronchodilation resulting from co-localisation of active drug components, with other combination formulations including marketed combination products.

Excipient-free, drug-only MCPs engineered by Prosonix that will be evaluated in the project include: inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) with long-acting beta-agonist (LABA), and LABAs with long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMA).

David Hipkiss, Prosonix' CEO, said, “Our strong links with the world's leading academic research groups focused on respiratory medicine and inhaled drug delivery, such as Dr Omar Usmani's group at Imperial College's NHLI and Professor Rob Price's team at the University of Bath, alongside our own development team, ensure that Prosonix retains a pre-eminent position in the field. We believe that our particle engineering technology is potentially transformational in enabling the development of novel inhaled combination therapies that deliver significant clinical benefits. Following the recent second close of our £17.1M financing, we believe we are very well placed now to drive the development of our unique MCPs into the clinic.”

Dr Omar Usmani said, “Co-localisation of active components in respiratory drug combinations in the lung may offer the potential for an enhanced clinical effect and therapeutic efficacy that is currently not fully achieved with current combinations. With better treatment of respiratory diseases requiring improved combinations for these reasons, we are extremely interested in Prosonix' particle engineering approach and multi-component particles to determine whether they can demonstrate clinical synergy and thus provide a novel and effective means of delivering respiratory combinations.”