Sorrento Therapeutics has acquired Kimberly-Clark’s Sofusa lymphatic delivery technology platform for targeted biopharmaceuticals, particularly, the immune checkpoint inhibitors like anti-PD-1, CTLA4, CD47 antibodies and other I-O antibodies. Pioneered by inventor Dr. Russell F. Ross and the innovation team at Kimberly-Clark, the Sofusa technology consists of proprietary nano-structured microneedles designed to access the lymphatic capillaries just below the epidermis.
In a recent Phase I human study, the Sofusa system has successfully demonstrated the ability to precisely tune the pharmacokinetic profile of sumatriptan to give both rapid onset and an extended treatment duration for the acute treatment of migraine. University of Texas Health Science Center Institute of Molecular Medicine (IMM) Cardiovascular Disease Research Nancy and Rich Kinder chair Eva Sevick-Muraca said: “Sofusa technology allows pharmacological targeting of the lymphatics allowing new treatment strategies for cancer and chronic inflammatory conditions.” She is a biomedical engineer who has pioneered lymphatic imaging in humans and preclinical models of human disease and has been an advisor to Sofusa. Recently, her group presented preclinical work at AACR delivering an anti-CTLA4 mAb using the Sofusa device in a mouse model of metastatic breast cancer. Sorrento chief medical officer Jerry Zeldis said: “Delivering higher drug concentrations via the lymphatics could provide more direct and sustained exposure to therapeutic targets known to modulate immune responses.
“We believe this has the potential to result in an improved safety and efficacy profile for checkpoint inhibitors and anti-inflammatory agents. Sorrento is now well positioned to becoming a leader in the immunotherapy field and fulfill our mission to develop best-in-class antibodies for patients. Sorrento president and CEO Henry Ji said: “We are impressed with Sofusa’s data, where in preclinical models using immunomodulatory antibodies, the Sofusa system consistently demonstrated significantly higher lymphatic levels compared to other delivery routes while exhibiting equipotent or better therapeutic activity.
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