Pune start-up gets US patent for delivering drugs to site-specific organs

Mumbai: A Pune-based start-up has been granted patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for developing a breakthrough technology for delivering pharmaceutical drugs to site-specific organs like colon and rectum.

The patent was granted to Actorius Innovations and Research and its team that designed capsule shells using natural polymer to obtain a delayed release profile suitable for delivery of drugs to colon and rectum, said Dr Jayant Khandare, founder-director and Chief Scientific Officer of the start-up.

“Current pharmaceutical dosage forms like tablets and capsules can easily deliver drugs in stomach and intestine but not to colon and rectum,” Khandare, an innovator of the patent, told PTI.

Changes in lifestyle and food habits are leading to many colon related diseases including cancers, he said.

Delivery of drugs to colorectal site is most challenging as the dosage forms have to prevent the early release of drug in stomach and intestine, he said.

This patent (US Patent No. 11596607) is titled “Polymer based formulation for the release of drugs and bioactives at specific GIT sites”.

Khandare said the technology composition does not involve cumbersome tablet processing, coating and enteric or other polymers. It also reduces processing cost with increased patient compliance, he added.

The start-up completed the bio equivalence study which was approved by Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) in September 2020, Khandare said.

“After the grant of the US patent, the technology is being considered for large scale manufacturing and some pharma companies have approached us,” Khandare said.

Actorius has been developing breakthrough innovations from lab to clinic in cancer diagnostics and pharmaceuticals, said Khandare, who holds a Ph. D. from CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune and is a recipient of Germany’s Alexander von Humboldt Experienced Researcher Fellowship.

The firm earlier launched India’s first-in-class medical device ‘OncoDiscover Circulating Tumor Cell Test’, a blood test for the detection of metastatic cancer.

This is the only indigenous medical device in India for detecting cancer spread and was approved for manufacturing and marketing by DGCI under the new Medical Devices Rules 2017, Khandare said.