Kuecept Ltd, a leading provider of specialist early phase drug development services to the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries, today announced that it has entered into a licensing agreement with The School of Pharmacy, University of London to access two key oral drug delivery platforms. These technologies have been developed over several years of research by the group of Dr Abdul Basit and aim to facilitate the development of poorly soluble active pharmaceutical ingredients, as well as modulate drug release throughout the GI tract to improve drug absorption.

The technologies, which include a novel pH responsive microparticulate formulation and a tablet enteric double coating for fast drug release in the proximal small intestine, can be used with a diverse group of drug candidates, from small-molecule drugs to large molecules like proteins, peptides, and nucleic acids, thus expanding the possible application areas of Kuecept’s current drug delivery platform.

Dr Mark Saunders, development director at Kuecept commented: “This agreement with The School of Pharmacy is an ideal strategic fit for Kuecept as we aim to expand our portfolio of drug delivery technologies for oral dose forms. The ability to access these technologies in a commercial environment enables us to offer our clients an enhanced drug development service with a wide range of enabling drug delivery technologies aimed at improving the chances of successfully progressing problematic molecules from discovery to clinic.”