Intezyne has received notification the European Patent Office intends to grant a patent covering a key element of Intezyne’s drug delivery technology, the IVECT Method. At the core of this technology is the IVECT micelle, a polymeric nanoparticle designed to encapsulate and deliver therapeutics, while limiting exposure to healthy tissues.
Intezyne said that the IVECT Method is already covered by seven additional patents both in the US and worldwide. The wide-ranging, European patent covers technology that allows flexibility and versatility of the IVECT micelle, particularly with respect to the amount of hydrophobic material that can be encapsulated into the drug delivery vehicle, further bolstering Intezyne’s intellectual property portfolio.
Intezyne also said that the issued claims include composition of matter for Intezyne’s triblock copolymers, which utilize both D- and L-isomers in the encapsulation block.
Intezyne is active in its efforts to prosecute its patents and protect its intellectual property. The current patent is being prosecuted in the US, as well as Australia, Canada, Israel, India, Japan, Mexico, and New Zealand. All granted and pending patent applications are wholly owned by Intezyne.
Intezyne’s IVECT Method is remarkably safe platform that has the potential to raise the bar in terms of what patients and oncologists can expect from chemotherapy. The key to this breakthrough technology is the company’s multi-disciplinary approach, integrating polymer physics and materials science with organic chemistry, polymer chemistry, biochemistry, and biology.
Intezyne can improve patient outcomes by amplifying the efficacy and safety profiles of cancer drugs, whose potency often is handicapped by nonspecific delivery outside of the tumor site, requiring higher dosing and resulting in severe toxicities. The IVECT Method has proven to be versatile, in terms of the diversity of materials that can be encapsulated securely, and its modular design confers unmatched adaptability at a minimal cost.
Beyond chemotherapy, the company has proven the IVECT Method can deliver many classes of small molecules, in addition to nucleic acids, oligopeptides, and diagnostic imaging agents.
Kevin Sill, chief scientific officer of Intezyne, said: “Historically, encapsulating highly hydrophobic drugs has proven to be a major stumbling block for the great majority of drug delivery systems. The advanced technology covered by this patent protects Intezyne’s ability to encapsulate hydrophobic drugs more efficiently.
“Further, we have shown for the first time IVECT micelles are able to encapsulate several hydrophobic compounds that were previously intractable to delivery methods at therapeutically relevant levels.”