Archimedes licenses technology from UK government defence lab

Licensing agreement

Archimedes Development Ltd, a subsidiary of the speciality pharma company Archimedes Pharma Ltd, has licensed a portfolio of patents relating to the use of chitosan for drug delivery from Ploughshare Innovations, the technology transfer arm of the Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (Dstl), part of the UK Ministry of Defence. Commercial terms were not disclosed.

The technology centres on the use of a more water soluble form of chitosan, a naturally occurring adhesive polysaccharide. The new IP will allow Archimedes to extend the applicability of ChiSys, its intranasal drug delivery technology, and in particular is likely to be of use in administering vaccines without injections. It is hoped the technology will make it possible for antigens to be formulated as a nose spray while maintaining their stability and effectiveness, and potentially avoiding the need for vaccines to be refrigerated.

In pre-clinical and clinical studies ChiSys has been shown to enhance the immune response generated by nasally-administered vaccines to a range of viral diseases. It is currently being used in an in-house programme on flu and in a co-development programme with LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals to develop vaccines to Norovirus and Anthrax.

Alan Smith, Vice President of R&D at Archimedes Development, said the ChiSys platform has already shown its potential in safely and effectively increasing the nasal bioavailability of a wide range of drugs by modulating the residence time on the nasal mucosa. “This new addition to our capability is specifically aimed at developing still further our ability to promote immune responses to antigens which are difficult to give by other routes.”

Andy Tulloch, Chief Executive of Ploughshare Innovations, said Ploughshare’s mission is to license Dstl technologies to industry so that the benefits of tax payer-funded research can be realised. “The integration of Dstl’s oral vaccine technology with Archimedes’ ChiSys platform is another example of the successful commercialisation of defence technology. The licence highlights both the commercial and social value of the work carried out at Dstl.”