Stirling is getting increasing coverage in the biotech media...

Stirling is getting increasing coverage in the biotech media circles.......


Stirling licenses inhaler technology
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
Nick Evans

STIRLING Products has continued its aggressive technology acquisition program, announcing late last week it has reached an agreement to license an inhaled drug delivery platform.

The company has reached an agreement with the NSW-based Sheiman Ultrasonic Research Foundation to license Sheiman’s ultrasound aerosol generation devices as a drug delivery platform.

Stirling says it and joint venture partner Zodiac Capital have agreed to pay $250,000 each in cash or shares to Sheiman for the rights to the technology, and have committed to spending $570,000 over the next 12 months on developing the platform for use with its existing herbal supplement product line.

The company says expansion of the licensing agreement into delivery of other drugs in humans and animals will begin in six to 12 months, and is dependent on the raising of $5-6 million in development cash – most likely to come from grants, according to Stirling Products chief executive Peter Boonen.

In return, Sheiman will retain an undiluted 35% interest in the high-density aerosol devices, a 35% interest in all off-patent drugs that can be adapted for use in the new platform, subject to all regulatory approvals that may be required for such use, and a 5% interest in any of Stirling’s products that are adapted for use through the technology.

Boonen told BTN the deal gave Stirling an exclusive licence to use the platform in pharmaceutical and herbal applications.

Interestingly, the platform was last seen in the pharma space when Sheiman did a deal with controversial sexual dysfunction treatment company Advanced Medical Institute in 2003.

That deal was terminated in 2006, though BTN understands that AMI is still using the Sheiman technology in its drugs.

Boonen told BTN he wasn’t sure of the exact status of Sheiman’s agreement with AMI, but that Stirling had committed to helping the smaller company sort the issues out.

Background

The Sheiman Ultrasonic Research Foundation’s high-density aerosol technology is based on the use of focused ultrasonic energy to form a fountain of liquid to be nebulised, producing an aerosol from the walls of the jet that self-propels at several metres per second up a chimney-like intake tube, according to the company.

Atomisation of the liquid occurs at the base of the jet inside the intake tube. The microparticle aerosol is then transported to the user by positive dynamic pressure derived intrinsically from the kinetic energy of the jet.

The HDA technology, therefore, does not require any compressed gas or fan-driven airflow to transport aerosol to the user. This significantly increases the aerosol concentration by both eliminating the gas/fan dilution effect and reducing the drug loss associated with aerosol condensation inside the nebulisation chamber.

Sheiman says the active drug particle size is sub-5 micron, providing for better and more rapid absorption, and the drug transportation velocity is matched to the patient’s natural inhalation – reducing the chance the active component will collect on air passages rather than being transported direct to the patient’s lungs.