Sorry Reiner, I've tried, but I can't put this one down LOL!  I reckon this could be the game changer for Cardia. Take note of what I have highlighted in bold. :-)

Medical Musings: MIT's Langer Lab is a business incubator

By Doug Smock
Published: August 23rd, 2012

America's greatest strength in the future global economy is the ability to generate whole new technologies—whole new ways of looking at a problem or opportunity. Steve Jobs and Apple—now the largest company ever to exist—are the obvious example in personal electronics.

A great example in the medical field is chemical engineer Robert Langer, whose work in developing new plastics has spawned 25 companies and helped create billion-dollar businesses (drug-eluting stents) for companies like Johnson & Johnson and Boston Scientific.

Nanospheres are like "magic bullets". (BIND)

He joined the MIT faculty 35 years ago and is now one of 14 professors holding the title of Institute Professor—the highest honor awarded to a faculty member. He runs the largest biomedical engineering lab in the world.

Dr. Langer began his professional career as a postdoctoral fellow for cancer researcher Judah Folkman at Children's Hospital Boston. He investigated how to stop the growth of blood vessels that support cancerous tumors through use of controlled-release polymers. That began his career of investigating new plastics for medical applications.

In a press conference at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society this week, he summed up his career goal very simply: "One of the things that we have tried to do is create materials that can relieve human suffering and save lives."

Approximately 800 granted or pending patents later, he says the work of the Langer Lab has focused on three primary areas: 1) drug delivery systems, 2) design of new materials, and 3) tissue engineering.

"Starting in the 1970s, we discovered the first ways of creating plastics that can deliver molecules of any size for long periods of time, and that has led to products treating millions of patients for diseases such as schizophrenia, diabetes, narcotic addiction, alcoholism," he said. 

Drug-releasing polymers played an important role in the drug-eluting stent industry.

More recently, the Lab has developed nanospheres "that are like magic bullets-almost like GPS systems that can take the drugs rights to the cells that need to be treated, like a tumor. Clinical trials on a product developed through BIND Biosceinces are under way with 22 patients. BIND Biosciences was launched in 2007 by Dr. Langer and Professor Omid Farokhzad of Harvard Medical School. Drugs are encapsulated in a matrix of biodegradable and biocompatible polymers that are released exactly at the point they are needed. PLGA-PEG nanoparticles are used. "There are hints of efficacy where cat scans show that several tumors have actually disappeared," Langer said at the ACS press conference.

Under development at MicroCHIPS, another Langer company, are smart drug delivery systems in which wireless signals sent from computers or even cell phones can trigger release of a drug from a tiny, implanted capsule equipped with an antenna.

Successful results of a clinical trial were announced earlier this year. It was reported as the first successful test of a telemedical device.

In the trial conducted in Denmark, programmable chips with an osteoporosis drug called teriparatide were implanted in seven women aged 65 to 70. "What's done normally is daily injections of parathyroid hormone," said Langer. "The problem is that 75% of women don't do it. The compliance is terrible. We put in these chips and then by a remote control you can program them and the drug comes out while the patient is sleeping." Inserting the implant is a minor procedure in a doctor's office.

The study found that the device delivered dosages that were comparable to injections with no adverse side effects. The technology could be used widely for patients with many diseases ranging from cancer to multiple sclerosis. MicroCHIPS was founded with technology developed in the laboratories of Professor Michael Cima and Dr. Langer at MIT.

Materials' engineering
Dr. Langer said he began focusing on the development of all-new materials for medical applications because so few existed.

"Most materials development even today has been driven by clinicians who have taken materials from their house. For example, material from a ladies girdle is used for an artificial heart, and a breast implant material has been designed from a mattress stuffing material."

Langer's Lab used chemistry and chemical engineering principles to design materials from scratch.

One of the earliest developments was a new class of materials that has been used in treating brain cancer for the last 16 years. The newest material is a plastic gel that can make damaged vocal cords function better.

The third area of focus is tissue engineering, or the combination of stem cells with bioresorbable plastic structures. It's estimated that tissue engineering could be an $80 billion annual business in the U.S. alone.

One of the challenges has been development of tissue with blood vessels. Dr. Langer and his research partners have reported success in laying endothelial cells on scaffolding material with a surface patterned with nanoscale grooves. A network of capillary-like tubes develops. Because the grooves mimic the texture of body tissues, they help signal the stem cells to form blood vessels.

Animal tests are positive, even in areas such as spinal cord replacement. Dr. Langer said at the ACS press conference that clinical trials may begin in the next year.

One of his skills obviously is moving ideas from the lab to a clinical setting.

He said there are three requirements: sufficient funding, a GMP manufacturing partner, and a clinical champion. He also wants the work to be important to researchers in his lab--either post-doctoral fellows or doctoral students. Many of his companies are now run by former students. Dr. Langer does not serve in an executive role because of MIT ground rules.

He makes it all sound easy when he talks about it. But clearly it's not.

And that's why he and people like him are a tremendous national resource.

Professors Robert Langer, right, and Michael Cima speak in Cima's lab at the Koch Institute. Photo: M. Scott Brauer

Medical Musings: MIT's Langer Lab is a business incubator