Other Control Release Delivery Platforms
Our technologies provide a broad range of release profiles, taking into account the physical and chemical characteristics of a drug product, the therapeutic use of the particular drug, and the optimal site for release of the active pharmaceutical ingredient in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Key attributes of these technologies are described below. We will often use more than one technology to develop a single drug product.
IntelliFOAM™
Based on the drug active being embedded in, but separate from a syntactic foam substrate, the properties of which are used to modulate the release of the drug active. The drug actives are embedded in a resin polymer matrix.
IntelliGITransporter™
The IntelliGITransporter™ technology consists of an active drug immobilized in a homogeneous (uniform) matrix structure. A precise choice of mix ratios, polymers, and other ingredients imparts characteristics which protect the drug composition from mechanical degradation due to digestion, and/or from chemical degradation in the acidic stomach environment, and ensures that this technology allows control of release as well as releasing the medication at certain parts of the stomach or intestines without significant food effects or unintentional premature release of the entire drug dose. We believe that this technology is most useful for drug molecules with characteristics such as very low or very high potency, opiate analgesics (pain medications derived from the chemical compounds found in opium), or susceptibility to acid degradation. It is also useful for products where a zero-order (constant rate over time, independent of the amount of drug available for dissolution) release profile is desirable.
IntelliMatrix™
The IntelliMatrix™ technology is a proprietary blend of several polymers. Depending on the constituents of the blend and the manner in which these interact, the use of the blend with a drug allows the drug to be released at predetermined rates, while imparting protective characteristics to both the drug and the GIT. This results in protection from the delivered active drug, for the stomach, if required. This is most useful for drugs which require precisely controlled first order release profiles, where the amount released with time is dependent on one component like the amount of drug available for dissolution.
IntelliOsmotics™
The IntelliOsmotics™ technology is based upon the inclusion of multiple populations of polymers with distinct chemical bonding characteristics. These set up a complex matrix of hydrophilic (water attracting) and hydrophobic (water repelling) domains. When the tablet or bead is in an aqueous environment, like gastric contents, a "mixture" of water-soluble polymer and drug core is surrounded by gel layer(s) of water-insoluble polymer. Osmotic pressure drives the drug out when solvent passes through the gel layer while the polymer molecules remain. This permits control of the rate of release of the drug active by the variation of polymer ratios. This technology is most useful for drug molecules which require precisely controlled pseudo-first-order release profiles, where the rate of release is proportional to the amount available for dissolution as well as being proportional to one other component; however the effect of the amount of drug is overriding, so that the rate appears first order. This type of release control can be useful when attempting to match difficult profiles for generic formulation.
IntelliPaste™
The IntelliPaste™ technology is comprised of blends of multiple polymers, oils, excipients and drug active(s) which result in a paste-in-a-capsule dosage form. The physical attributes of the paste include that it is thixotropic, pseudo plastic and non-Newtonian or, in layman's terms, like toothpaste. Typically, it is formulated as having very low solubility in water or oil, and low solubility in alcohol. These characteristics enable the resulting drug product to have tamper-deterrent properties, and to resist dissolution in even high concentrations of alcohol. As a result, IntelliPaste™ is the Company's preferred delivery technology for the controlled delivery of opiates, narcotics and other central nervous system ("CNS") drug products, which are susceptible to unlawful diversion or abuse.
IntelliPellets™
The IntelliPellets™ technology consists of one or more type (population) of granule, bead, pellet, or tablet in a holding chamber or reservoir, such as a hard gelatin capsule. Each type (population) may be uniquely different from the other in the manner or rate it releases the drug. Our IntelliPellets™ technology is designed to control, prolong, delay or modify the release of drugs. It is particularly useful for the delivery of multiple drugs, for delayed, timed, pulsed or for chronotherapeutic drug delivery, designed to mimic our internal clocks for therapeutic optimization (the drug is delivered in the right amount for the patient at the right time). This technology is most useful for the delivery of multiple-drug cocktails, or in situations where the timing of a single dose or the sequencing of multiple doses of the same drug is important.
IntelliShuttle™
The IntelliShuttle™ technology provides for drug release past the stomach, such as for drugs required for action beyond the stomach, for drugs which could be destroyed by the stomach environment, or for drugs which could harm the stomach itself. This technology "shuttles" the drug past the stomach to be released at predetermined times or sites where appropriate for optimum therapeutic effect. This technology is most useful for acid labile drug molecules (drugs that are destroyed in acid environment), such as the proton pump inhibitors, of which well-known omeprazole (Prilosec) and lansoprazole (Prevacid) are examples, or for drug molecules which may harm the stomach, of which the well-known aspirin is an example.