Nanoform and Celanese expand collaboration into long-acting biologics delivery through small implants

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Two people stand back to back lifting their sleeves to show plasters covering their recent injections

Nanoform Finland Plc, an innovative nanoparticle medicine enabling company, and Celanese Corporation, a global specialty materials and chemical company, announced an expansion of their collaboration to cover biologic drug delivery on 5 September.

The companies will combine Nanoform’s Biologics platform with the Celanese VitalDose® Drug Delivery platform to further optimize controlled release of biologics from long-acting, therapeutic implants. The collaboration will also include the further development of a long-acting, patient-centric implant for Multiple Sclerosis treatment.

This latest announcement follows promising progress made from an ongoing collaboration, which was first announced in 2023. The companies have combined active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) nanoparticles produced through Nanoform’s controlled expansion of supercritical solutions (CESS®) technology with the Celanese VitalDose Drug Delivery platform to reduce the burst release of therapeutics from drug-eluting implants, while maintaining high drug load and small implant size. The VitalDose Drug Delivery platform is based on ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and offers sustained drug release of small molecules, biologics and RNA for months to years of drug delivery. The platform is tuneable, allowing for customized drug release across a range of form factors and configurations.

"We are pleased to expand our work with Celanese to combine two innovative delivery technologies to create long-acting implants for biologics," said Dr. Edward Haeggström, Nanoform CEO. "These implants have the potential to advance the field of therapeutic development by offering longer-term adherence and potentially better outcomes for patients. Recent data showcases Nanoform's ability to improve drug loading for biologics. Combined with Celanese technology, this has the potential to improve innovator medicines and patients’ lives."

“We are proud to continue our collaboration with Nanoform to combine their particle size control capabilities with our expertise in drug release kinetics,” said Susan Rahe, vice president of pharmaceutical solutions at Celanese. “This strengthens our technology position for controlled-release formulations for biologics and further demonstrates our strategy to embark on innovative partnerships and collaborations that yield patient benefit and create value for our customers.”


For more information, read the original press release.

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