CyDex’s Captisol technology improves water solubility, bioavailability and complexation characteristics of insoluble and/or unstable drugs. CyDex has granted Proteolix global rights to Captisol for a formulation of PR-171 – a novel proteasome inhibitor derived from the natural product epoxomicin.
PR-171, also known as carfilzomib, is potent on heme tumor cell lines and induces programmed cell death in multiple myeloma cells taken from patients, including those that are resistant to current therapies. The compound is currently in phase I clinical trials at six leading oncology centers in the US and Canada.