pain relief, page-4

Not Sure if this has been posted.

More than a patch-up job John Beveridge From: Herald Sun February 04, 2010 11:47AM Increase Text SizeDecrease Text SizePrintEmail Share
Add to DiggAdd to del.icio.usAdd to FacebookAdd to KwoffAdd to MyspaceAdd to NewsvineWhat are these? Delivering the goods: Phosphagenics' Harry Rosen and Esra Ogru. Source: HWT Image Library
HUMAN skin is remarkably resistant to letting drugs through and into the bloodstream.
Which is why many existing drug patches use solvents and other means to remove some of those pesky but otherwise very useful skin layers so that they can get the job done.

Melbourne biotechnology company Phosphagenics is closing in on a patch that will not only deliver drugs but leave the skin in better condition that it was in before.

Based on vitamin E phosphates that penetrate the skin and carry a drug with them, the company is now closing in on completing a revolutionary delivery of the commonly used pain relief drug oxycodone.

Other than avoiding an injection, chief operating officer Esra Ogru said the big benefit of patch delivery was a gradual release of the drug over time.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
Related CoveragePatients turning to black market drugs
Herald Sun, 9 Jan 2010
Drug company's $1.9m raising
Perth Now, 7 Dec 2009
Tanning drug a health risk
Herald Sun, 30 Oct 2009
Police crackdown on painkiller scripts
Daily Telegraph, 29 Sep 2009
'Hillbilly heroin' becoming drug of choice | Health & Lifestyle
Herald Sun, 21 Sep 2009.End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
In tests reported this week, Phosphagenics' matrix patch even surpassed Dr Ogru's expectations of delivering the drug over time.

Other than reaching a deal with a large pharmaceutical group to produce oxycodone patches, Phosphagenics is aiming to apply its skin drug delivery platform to a wide range of common drugs that at the moment can only be taken by injection or mouth.

The holy grail among those projects would be an insulin patch, which could be used in conjunction or possibly as a replacement for injections for diabetics.

Other large market opportunities include drugs used to treat hypertension, motion sickness, nausea, Parkinson's disease, depression, obesity, Alzheimers and even birth control.

"The benefits for the large drug companies are obvious because they can extend the life cycle of products that have fallen off patent against generic competitors and improve the ease of drug delivery for patients," said research vice-president Paul Gavin.

Phosphagenics shares closed steady at 6.8.

Link--> http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/fully-frank/more-than-a-patch-up-job/story-e6frfinf-1225826664891?from=public_rss