OKLAHOMA CITY & AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Heparinex, L.L.C., a biopharmaceutical company with patented drug delivery technology platforms, announced the Company has received a $1.6 million fund endowment from the Economic Development Generating Excellence program (EDGE). Heparinex and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center have discovered a drug delivery technology that utilizes sugar-polymers to more safely and effectively deliver drugs used in the treatment of a number of diseases.
Paradigm Shift in Multiple Therapeutic Areas
A problem in the pharmaceutical industry exists where drugs are excreted too quickly from the body thus requiring multi-daily injections. Alternatively, some drugs are attacked by the body. The Heparosan-based Drug Delivery System addresses problems such as these by allowing drugs to stay in the body longer, thereby increasing activity. This drug delivery technology greatly benefits both patients and pharma companies.
The EDGE award will help Heparinex and its wholly owned subsidiary, Caisson Biotech, L.L.C., by enabling process development, documentation and characterization of heparosan as a drug delivery agent. Caisson Biotech is already working with industry partners to commercialize a number of heparosan-conjugated drugs and is seeking additional partnerships in various drug markets.
Breca Tracy, PhD, Managing Director, Heparinex, L.L.C., said, “The EDGE funding is additional recognition and validation of our groundbreaking drug delivery technology that provides a superior alternative to currently available technologies. It facilitates opportunities for Heparinex and Caisson to address unmet market needs.”
Heparinex and Caisson Biotech are funded and managed by Emergent Technologies, Inc., a leading investment and management company focused on early stage technology and life sciences. Thomas Harlan, Emergent Technologies CEO, commented, “The EDGE award positions Caisson to expand operations and scale to increase its number of industry partnerships as well as to evaluate potential development of its own proprietary internal drug pipeline.”
Bio-Superior Drug Delivery System
By utilizing proprietary methods to manufacture heparosan (a naturally occurring sugar in the body) and its derivatives, Caisson Biotech, L.L.C., offers its Heparosan-based Drug Delivery System as a safer delivery vehicle and alternative to PEG (poly[ethylene glycol]). The Heparosan-based Drug Delivery System is the process of conjugating a naturally occurring sugar molecule, heparosan, to a drug. It has many potentially bio-superior attributes over PEGylation including greater compatibility; new and novel intellectual property; lack of accumulation in tissues; and no known toxic effects.
About Heparinex, L.L.C.
Heparinex, L.L.C. is a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the novel recombinant synthesis of compounds for a number of markets, including drug delivery, dermal fillers, reconstructive surgery, biomaterials, cosmetics, medical devices and ophthalmic medical applications. The core technology platform was originally discovered and patented by leading carbohydrate chemist/ glycobiologist, Paul DeAngelis, PhD, Heparinex Chief Scientist and professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.
Heparinex’s core platforms employ both bacterial production techniques and in vitro defined polymer syntheses to provide uniquely controlled non-animal sources of genetically customizable heparinoid compounds for drug discovery, therapeutic formulations and medical device applications. The company’s technology is applicable to a broad spectrum of multibillion-dollar markets.
Heparinex is funded and managed by Emergent Technologies, Inc., a leading investment and management firm focused on early stage technology and life sciences. To learn more about Heparinex, visit www.heparinex.com.
About EDGE
Established in 2004, the mission of the Economic Development Generating Excellence program (EDGE) is to bolster Oklahoma's long-term economic growth by investing the earnings from the EDGE endowment in the state's knowledge infrastructure. EDGE investments are specifically directed toward Oklahoma-based projects that have the potential to expand the number of researchers, technicians, support services and related activity within the state; increase the formation and growth of advanced technology companies; leverage additional funding through federal research grants or private investment; and improve the health and quality of life for Oklahoma.