Access has signed evaluation agreements with two biopharmaceutical companies, for its Cobalamin oral drug delivery technology.
Cobalamin technology utilizes the body’s natural vitamin B12 oral uptake mechanism to facilitate oral absorption of pharmaceuticals by a “Trojan horse” mechanism.
Under these agreements, both the companies plan to evaluate Access’ Oral Insulin product in preclinical models as a prerequisite to entering licensing discussions.
David Nowotnik, Senior Vice President of R&D at Access, said: “While Access’ focus has been on the oral delivery of peptides, the technology is sufficiently flexible to allow us to deliver a wide range of actives.”
“In addition to peptide delivery, we have received inquiries recently about the potential of this technology to deliver actives ranging from small molecules to siRNA to monoclonal antibodies. As siRNA needs to be delivered intracellularly to be effective as a therapeutic, the Cobalamin technology may be particularly beneficial as an intracellular delivery technology, as the demand for vitamin B12 increases in many disease states,” he added.