Encore Therapeutics Inc. Demonstrates Proof Of Concept For A Long-Acting Buprenorphine Depot For Pain And Drug Abuse Therapy (ETI-311)

Main Category: Pain / Anesthetics
Also Included In: Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs
Article Date: 10 Dec 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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Encore Therapeutics Inc. (ETI) today reported that ETI-311, the company's novel long-acting depot for buprenorphine, produced clinically relevant plasma levels of the drug over 3-7 days when administered by intradermal injection in dog studies. These results add to the growing number of applications for ETI's drug delivery platform technology to deliver drugs both locally and systemically in a high-load and continuous manner. The ETI platform has now demonstrated enhanced utility and product life cycle of numerous existing drugs by improving clinical utility and extending intellectual property rights.

ETI-311 is a proprietary non-liposomal phospholipid gel (PG) formulation that incorporates the mixed opiate agonist, buprenorphine, in a single-phase, ready-to-use intradermal depot formulation. The gel is capable of delivering the drug to the systemic circulation in a peak-less profile for 3-7 days with low burst potential. The gel incorporates injectable grade phospholipids and other components with prior use histories in FDA-approved drug products. ETI-311 represents a novel means of providing sustained analgesia for a variety of pain management indications in an abuse resistant manner. ETI-311 also may also be useful for opiate withdrawal treatment.

"This study demonstrates that the ETI-311 achieved stable and clinically relevant blood levels of buprenorphine, and further validates our growing portfolio of PG-based product candidates that can provide shortened development cycle proprietary products," stated ETI Chairman and CEO Dr. Paul J. Marangos. Dr. Andrew X. Chen, Chief Scientific Officer at ETI, also noted, "The PG technology has the potential to provide extended duration of action for a wide variety of injectable drugs that can provide numerous improved and proprietary products."

About ETI

ETI was founded by Drs. Paul J. Marangos and Andrew X. Chen to extend and enhance the clinical utility and patent life of existing drugs through novel formulation strategies. The Company is seeking development and marketing partnerships with other companies to bring these products to market. More information is at http://www.encoretherapeutics.com.

Encore Therapeutics Inc.

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