Awarded a grant for vaccine development by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Awarded a grant for vaccine development by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Turku, Finland – 24 October 2018: DelSiTech Ltd, a Finnish drug delivery and drug development company, today announced significant grant funding to support the development of thermostabilized viral vaccines from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
DelSiTechTMSilica Matrix is an advanced, sustained and controlled release delivery technology for administration of injectable, implant and topical eye drop dosage forms. One important feature of DelSiTech’s technology is the ability to confer thermostability to viruses over long periods of time, over years.
“To ensure the optimal potency of vaccines, storage conditions need careful attention and maintenance of the cold chain is especially important in developing countries, where outdoor temperatures can easily exceed 40°C,” said Dr. Lasse Leino, CEO of DelSiTech. “We are delighted and honoured to receive funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for such an exciting and critical program.”
About DelSiTech Ltd
DelSiTech Ltd. located in Turku, Finland, is the leading technology specialist in biodegradable silica-based controlled release of small molecule drugs, biopharmaceuticals and viral vectors. It develops and commercializes its proprietary, drug delivery technology in collaboration with a number of pharma and biotech companies to turn their ideas into novel drug products. In addition, the Company is developing its own pipeline of supergeneric/505(b)(2) products to address significant unmet medical and commercial needs. Its lead product, a long acting antiviral product for hepatitis B, will enter the clinic in 2019. For more information, see www.delsitech.com.
DelSiTechTMSilica Matrix
This is an advanced delivery technology for parenteral and local administration of injectable and implant dosage forms as well as eye drops. The proprietary technology is based on silica (SiO2) matrix into which the molecule or therapeutic agent of interest is embedded using a process called sol-gel. The resulting Matrix is non-porous, biocompatible and it can be designed to biodegrade by matrix dissolution at the desired rate to ensure a tightly controlled release of the active substance over periods of days up to many months or a year.
One important feature of DelSiTech’s technology is the ability to confer thermostability to viruses and therefore, overcome the need for storage at, for example, -80°C. It is estimated that 50% of lyophilized vaccines are discarded annually, and temperature instability is an appreciable contributing factor in this.
Contacts:
DelSiTech Ltd:
Dr. Lasse Leino, CEO
Tel. +358 40 8494 694
Dr. Cora Griffin, Business Development Director
Tel. +44 (0)7876 067623
Media enquiries:
Optimum Strategic Communications
Mary Clark, Hollie Vile, Ellie Blackwell
Tel: +44 (0) 203 9509144
