IISc, Bengaluru develops shock wave induced drug delivery patch for vaccines, insulin & antibiotics
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Nandita Vijay, Bengaluru
February 17 , 2015
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The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru has now developed a
novel shock wave induced drug delivery patch that will replace the
painful injections and stall needle stick injuries. The patch developed
with hydro collide material is designed to hold on active molecules like
vaccines, insulin and antibiotics. The pre-clinical studies are
complete and now the Institute is set to scout for bio-pharma industry
partners to take the research to human trials and technology transfer
for commercialisation thereafter.
The research is carried by
IISc’s departments of aerospace engineering and the department of
microbiology and cell biology. A number of methodologies to generate
shock waves of requisite strength have been designed and indigenously
built in the Laboratory for Hypersonic and Shockwave Research (LHSR) in
IISc.
“This is an unusual kind of experiment with shock waves
which is commonly associated with aerospace engineering. In fact, shock
waves appear in nature, whenever different elements in a fluid, approach
one another with a velocity larger than the local speed of sound. LHSR
is among the best in the world and there are only 7 countries globally
that have such a facility. There are 35 PhDs working on varied
technologies and drug delivery device is one such research. Utilising
shock waves to increase the pressure and temperature in a propagating
medium, enabled the development of shock wave assisted non-intrusive
needleless drug delivery system, gene gun, cell transformation device at
our lab”, Dr Gopalan Jagadeesh, chairman, centre for excellence,
Hypersonics and Professor, department of Aerospace Engineering, IISc,
told Pharmabiz.
“We understand enough about shock waves. Now this
needle free drug delivery device for vaccines and other injectable
drugs is seen to be a landmark finding. The technology is patented in US
and India,” he added.
The effectiveness of shock wave
technologies can be a non-invasive treatment modality for diabetic foot
wounds and vaccine delivery among others. The drug delivery is targeted
and accurate into the Langerhans cells which are present in all layers
of the epidermis, making it cost effective, he said.
Dr.
Jagadeesh is also the Founder Director of Super-Wave Technology Pvt.
Ltd, an initiative with equity participation from IISc to commercialise
his discoveries related to industrial applications of shock waves. “Now
it becomes very easy to ink pacts with the bio-pharma industry to
upscale this technology finding. There is also an Ethics Committee
within the IIsc to co-ordinate once an bio-pharma industry partner is
identified, he said.
Another big advantage of the shock wave
induced drug delivery is the positive outcome of both in-vivo and
in-vitro studies which provides ample indication that we are on the
right track, said Dr. Jagadeesh.
Dr Dipshikha Chakravorthy,
associate professor, department of microbiology and cell biology, IISc
said that the shock wave induced drug delivery patch is a significant
development. With the rise in metabolic disorders like diabetes, this is
seen as the way forward to replace injections and draw blood for
diagnostic tests.
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