pSivida initiates r&d collaboration with University of South Australia

Global nanotechnology company pSivida has entered into a research and development collaboration with the Ian Wark Research Institute (Wark) at the University of South Australia to evaluate the potential of its BioSilicon platform for the delivery of protein- and peptide-based therapeutics.

Such biopharmaceuticals, including antibodies, hormones and growth factors, already account for a substantial and increasing segment of the pharmaceutical market. A recent market report estimates global sales of biopharmaceuticals in 2004 at approximately US$48bn, and these have been increasing at 19% over the past five years; this represents about 9% of the global pharmaceutical market, which is estimated at US$550bn and which grew 7% in 2004, according to IMS Health.

Biopharmaceuticals are used to treat a broad spectrum of conditions, ranging from cancer to diabetes and from anaemia to osteoporosis. Furthermore, biopharmaceuticals account for more than one third of the industry's development pipeline¹. However, this class of drugs faces several problems with their use, which significantly impacts on their effectiveness, for example they cannot be easily administered orally, and they tend to be very susceptible to rapid degradation.

pSivida's promising preliminary investigations using BioSilicon have indicated its utility for the delivery of biopharmaceuticals, including its potential for the development of new controlled release formulations of existing marketed therapeutics. The collaboration with the Wark, which is initially for a period of six months with the possibility of further extension, will investigate further this potential application of BioSilicon and will form the basis of future r&d programmes in this important area.

pSivida's managing director, Gavin Rezos, said: 'The Ian Wark Research Institute is one of the leading science and technology centres in Australia and I am very pleased that we have initiated this exciting project with them. The r&d expertise and track record of the Wark in the areas of nanotechnology, biomaterials and drug delivery means that we have an excellent opportunity to advance the development of our unique BioSilicon platform as a potential solution to the current problems surrounding the delivery of biopharmaceuticals.'

Professor Clive Prestidge, head of the Bio and Polymer Interfaces research group at The Wark, commented: 'One of our core philosophies is to establish links with companies at the leading edge of research in nano and biomaterials and we are very pleased and excited to be working with pSivida on this r&d programme.'