A drug delivery firm spun out of Brown University, Spherics, Inc. ceased operations and closed down in August 2008. Spherics, Inc. had been developing proprietary technologies to enable the oral administration of injectable biopharmaceuticals and to improve the bioavailability of poorly absorbed small molecule drugs. The company’s approach to drug delivery ihad been based on the finding that bioadhesive polymers can increase drug particle residence time in the gastrointestinal tract, thereby facilitating the uptake of drug into the bloodstream. Based on the discoveries of Edith Mathiowitz, Ph.D., a Professor at Brown University and a recognized leader in polymer chemistry and drug delivery, Spherics In vivo animal data supporting the use of bioadhesive microspheres was published in an article appearing in Nature (1997; 386:410-14). In that publication Dr. Mathiowitz and her colleagues demonstrated increased absorption into the bloodstream of: an erratically absorbed, poorly soluble small molecule (dicumarol); a therapeutic protein (insulin); and plasmid DNA (as would be used in gene therapy). Spherics had been developing three complementary drug delivery platforms having broadly useful roles for delivery of both small molecules and biopharmaceuticals. These technology platforms included: 1.) bioadhesive, biocompatible and biodegradable polymers for oral drug delivery; 2.) phase inversion nanoencapsulation (PIN), a gentle encapsulation process that produces minute, drug-containing spheres of uniform size; and, 3.) bioadhesive, biocompatible coatings, capable of enhancing existing encapsulated and/or controlled release drug delivery products. Before the firm ceased operation, research had beenunderatken under an agreement with Serono International, SA, to develop oral formulations of a Serono-marketed therapeutic agen
