Product Research

Local Drug Delivery

Oral delivery of drugs is a preferred route of administration. However, for many drugs this is not possible, and alternative drug delivery routes are required. Alternative routes include transdermal, mucosal, and by implantation or injection. For implantation or injection, it is often desirable to extend the availability of the drug in order to minimize the frequency of these invasive procedures. A few materials have been commercialized which act as depots for a drug when implanted or injected, releasing the drug over periods ranging from one month to several years. Other material and drug combinations are being developed by third parties. PPTI believes that the properties of these materials for such applications can be substantially improved upon, making available the use of depot systems for a wider range of drugs and applications.

PPTI's products including its surgical adhesive and sealant formulations and its wound healing matrices all provide platforms for drug delivery applications, serving as controlled release drug depots. The protein polymer materials the Company has developed exhibit exceptional biocompatibility, provide for control over rates of resorption, and are fabricated using aqueous solvent systems at ambient temperatures — attributes which can be critical in maintaining the activity of the drug, particularly protein-based drugs emerging from the biotechnology industry. This program is in the preclinical research stage.

Wound Healing & Tissue Regeneration

The current market for wound care products is highly segmented, involving a variety of different approaches to wound care. Products currently marketed and being developed by other parties include fabric dressings (such as gauze), synthetic materials (such as polyurethane films) and biological materials (such as growth factors and living tissue skin graft substitutes). While the type of product used varies depending on the type of wound and the extent of tissue damage, PPTI believes that a principal treatment goal in all instances is to stimulate wound healing while regenerating functional (as opposed to scar) tissue.

PPTI has developed protein polymers that it believes may be useful in the treatment of dermal wounds, particularly chronic wounds such as decubitous ulcers, where both reconstruction of the extracellular matrix ("ECM") and re-establishment of its function are desired. These polymers, based on key ECM protein sequence blocks, are biocompatible, fully resorbable and have been processed into gels, sponges, films and fibrous sheets. The Company believes that such materials, if successfully developed, could improve the wound-healing process by providing physical support in situ for cell migration and tissue regeneration and as delivery systems for stem cells and growth factors. Additionally, such materials may serve as scaffolds for the ex vivo production of living tissue substitutes.