Transport Pharmaceuticals Receives Coveted Frost & Sullivan Technology Innovation Award

Main Category: Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry
Also Included In: Dermatology;  Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 07 Dec 2007 - 1:00 PDT

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Transport Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in combination drug/medical devices for the topical treatment of dermatological conditions, announced that it has been awarded the 2007 Frost & Sullivan North American Technology Innovation of the Year Award for its work in electrokinesis-enabled drug delivery. Frost & Sullivan, a global-growth consulting company, honored Transport at its annual North American Excellence in Healthcare Opportunities Awards Banquet, December 5, 2007 in Orlando, Florida.

Frost & Sullivan has recognized Transport with this prestigious innovation award for making "significant contributions in enhancing the delivery of topically applied dermatologic drugs." Transport's lead product, the SoloVir™ Electrokinetic Transdermal System (SoloVir™ ETS), may represent a significant breakthrough in the treatment of herpes labialis, also known as cold sores. SoloVir™ ETS enables the delivery of the company's novel five-percent acyclovir gel formulation by means of electric current via a small, finger mounted, microprocessor-driven control unit with a single-use, unit-dose drug cartridge. This innovative design allows patients to safely self-administer the drug, exactly where, and when it is needed.

Dennis I. Goldberg, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Transport, commented on the award, "It is a great honor to receive this award from the respected Frost and Sullivan organization. I am pleased to accept this award on behalf of Transport and recognize the team that makes our unique drug/device combination products a reality. It's not just management and investors; it's the engineers, chemists, biologists, clinical development, regulatory and quality assurance experts who have contributed to our continued success. The convergence of all of these disciplines into a highly focused company is what distinguishes Transport Pharmaceuticals from the competition. It is gratifying to see the recognition for our innovation which is expected to bring significant contributions to patients afflicted with dermatology diseases and the physicians who treat them."

"Electrokinetic drug delivery has emerged as an alternative approach to overcome the limitations of, and to obviate the need for, hypodermic injection of many medications," said Pramodh Ishwarakrishnan, Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst. "Transport Pharmaceuticals has achieved the noble distinction of creating a system which is poised to revolutionize the field of dermal drug delivery."

The Challenges and Promise of Transdermal Delivery

The outer layer of the skin, known as the stratum corneum, is a highly effective, impermeable barrier that serves as the immune system's natural first-line of defense. The stratum corneum prevents xenobiotics, external molecules or microorganisms from entering the body. It is this same barrier function that prevents topically applied drugs from reaching their target tissue in efficacious quantities.

The promise of Transport's technology lies in its ability to deliver a safe and effective therapeutic depot, directly in the affected tissue. The key advantages of this are two-fold; a high dose of potent drug rapidly and painlessly reaches the affected dermal tissue, while the patient avoids the potential toxicity and adverse effects associated with systemic exposure to a drug intended to act only on the skin. Transport's technology enhances both the delivery of topically applied drugs and the utility of potent, systemically delivered drugs, whose uses are limited by bioavailability, toxicity or side-effect concerns. While Transport's initial focus is herpes labialis, future indications include, onychomycosis, acne, actinic keratosis, keloids, warts, psoriasis, skin cancer and medical aesthetic applications.

About Best Practices

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Consulting Company, partners with clients to accelerate their growth. The company's Growth Partnership Services, Growth Consulting and Career Best Practices empower clients to create a growth focused culture that generates, evaluates and implements effective growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan employs over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 30 offices on six continents. For more information about Frost & Sullivan's Growth Partnerships, visit www.awards.frost.com.

About Transport Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Transport is bringing together cutting-edge medical electronics with drug formulation and material sciences to develop drug/device combination products that enhance movement of drugs across the stratum corneum (the skin's outer layer) by means of electric current. Transport's lead product, the SoloVir™ Electrokinetic Transdermal System (SoloVir™ ETS), utilizes the company's proprietary five-percent acyclovir gel-formulation to treat herpes labialis, or cold sores. Pharmacokinetic data from a Phase I study indicate that a single ten-minute application of SoloVir™ ETS delivered more than 100 times the published peak tissue levels (2 ug/ml) of acyclovir achieved with a 1 gram dose of Valtrex®, a leading oral-antiviral drug marketed for the treatment of herpes labialis. In addition, the peak tissue levels are achieved at the time of administration with SoloVir™ ETS, while orally administered Valtrex® requires more than two hours to reach peak acyclovir levels in the skin.

In a recently completed Phase 2 clinical study (November 28, 2007), data indicated that treatment at the erythema or papule/edema stages resulted in a statistically significant effect on the herpetic episode. In particular, the study demonstrated a 79 percent increase in aborted lesions (43% active; 24% placebo; p= 0.03; active n= 61; placebo n= 72) in SoloVir™ ETS treated subjects versus placebo. These subjects also experienced a 3.5 day reduction in time to complete healing (p= 0.015). Furthermore, this study demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful reduction in pain. SoloVir™ ETS was shown to be well tolerated with a compliance rate greater than 98 percent, with no serious adverse events reported related to study drug in all groups.

Based on the strong clinical results from TPI-H-221, Transport will advance SoloVir™ ETS into its next clinical stage of development in 2008. Transport has retained worldwide rights to SoloVir™ ETS for the treatment of herpes labialis.

Transport is a Massachusetts-based, privately held specialty pharmaceutical company. Current venture investors include Quaker BioVentures, The Carlyle Group, The Hillman Company and The Halleran Company.

Transport Pharmaceuticals, Inc.