Critical Pharmaceuticals Secures GBP1.5m From Wellcome Trust

Critical Pharmaceuticals, the speciality pharmaceuticals company, has won a translation award with the Wellcome Trust, which is valued at GBP1.5m, to develop a nasal spray of Human Growth Hormone (hGH) using its CriticalSorb technology as an alternative to injection.

The company has claimed that CriticalSorb will allow the delivery of biological drugs in preclinical studies with bioavailabilities. It is a ‘GRAS’ (generally regarded as safe) material that is already marketed in various drug products for intravenous and oral administration.

According to Critical Pharmaceuticals, the Wellcome Trust funding will support the development of a nasal hGH product through a phase 1 proof of concept study in human volunteers and determine the long term nasal tolerability of CriticalSorb.

Richard Seabrook, head of business development, Technology Transfer Division, at the Wellcome Trust, said: “Technologies for non-injectable administration of complex drugs like human growth hormone are desperately needed. We are very pleased to be funding this application of CriticalSorb which may avoid patient discomfort and improve eventual outcomes for this patient population. We look forward to Critical’s results.”

Lisbeth Illum, CEO of Critical Pharmaceuticals, said: “Current therapies require daily injections and are strongly disliked by patients and their carers. We believe Critical Pharmaceuticals’ CriticalSorb technology has the potential to enable the non-invasive delivery of not just human growth hormone but many other biological drugs with at least equivalent efficacy.”