BEND, Ore., April 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Bend Research Inc. (www.bendres.com), a leading
independent drug-formulation development and manufacturing company,
announced that it has received a new U.S. patent covering the use
of polymer additives to improve and sustain the bioavailability of
low-solubility drugs in the human body.
The patent protects formulations that enhance the absorption of
low-solubility drugs by blending the drug with an additive,
resulting in improved bioavailability. There is a growing
need for this technology, since it is estimated that more than 40%
of drugs in development have low aqueous solubility. Use of
these polymer additives means lower drug doses can be used to
achieve better therapies for these drugs. The technology
works by sustaining high concentrations of drug in the
gastrointestinal tract.
“This technology is on target with our mission of advancing our
clients’ best new medicines,” said Bend Research President and CEO
Rod Ray. “It provides one more way we can help our customers
provide novel therapies to treat illnesses that desperately need
new approaches.”
“Pharmaceutical industry leaders acknowledge that discovering
and bringing these new compounds forward is very complicated,” Ray
observed, “and Bend Research scientists and engineers are well
known for providing key assistance to leading pharmaceutical
companies facing this challenge.”
The patent covers blending solubility-improved drug forms with
solubility-enhancing polymer additives. Drug forms covered by the
patent are nanoparticles, absorbed drugs, drugs in nanosuspensions,
supercooled drug melts, cyclodextrin/drug forms, gelatin dosage
forms, and soft-gel dosage forms. Often, such drug forms dissolve
rapidly in the GI tract and then precipitate to low-solubility
forms before they can be absorbed. Blending these drug forms
with a solubility-enhancing polymer provides a simp
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