Noninvasive Thermal Triggering of Hybrid Hydrogels

It is now well recognized that when systemic chemotherapy is used in the treatment of solid tumors, it is almost impossible to achieve therapeutic levels of drug at the tumor site without damaging healthy organs and tissues. One solution to this problem is to encapsulate the drug in a biocompatible material that can be injected into the blood stream with the intention of delivering drug to a diseased site, (e.g., solid tumor tissue). The single biggest challenge now facing drug delivery (for liposomes and indeed other carriers) is to initiate and produce release of the encapsulated drug only at the diseased site and at controllable rates. Stewart and colleagues efforts have focused on developing a new thermal-sensitive drug delivery system, specifically for the local control of drug release at solid tumors.

Benefits
In 2003 the U.S. market for drug delivery systems was estimated around $43B and is expected to have a future annual growth rate of 11%. Of that market, targeted drug delivery constitutes approximately $8B with an expected annual growth of 13%. Reports estimate that the US drug delivery market will reach nearly $91 billion by 2009.

Stage of Development
This technology is part of an active and ongoing research program. It is available for developmental support or licensing under either exclusive or non-exclusive terms.

Additional Info
*Hennink WE, van Nostrum CF. Novel crosslinking methods to design hydrogels. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2002 Jan 17; 54(1):13-36. Review.
*http://www.bioen.utah.edu/faculty/RJS/
*http://implicit.che.utah.edu/

Inventor(s): Mikhail Skliar, Russell Stewart

Type of Offer: Licensing



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