BioSante gets NIH grant for inhaled interferon

Illinois, USA-based BioSante Pharmaceuticals has been awarded a $150,000 Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institutes of Health to support the company's development of formulations for the pulmonary delivery of interferon alpha (IFN-a) using its proprietary calcium phosphate nanoparticulate (CaP) technology.

The new grant will be used to fund product development for IFN-a formulated with CaP particles for administration via inhalation. The desired outcome is safe and effective treatment of hepatitis B and C. An inhaled product may allow for convenient self-treatment, which would be an improvement over the current injectable IFN-a, the company said, noting that Tulin Morcol, director of preclinical development for BioSante, will serve as the principal investigator.

Dr Morcol added: "our advanced CaP technology for inhaled drugs (BioAir) not only allows non-invasive delivery of large-molecule drugs, but also may substantially reduce the size and frequency of dosing required." He noted that this innovative technology is also being developed for topical/transdermal delivery of large proteins.