Acrux restructures licensing deal

Melbourne pharmaceutical company Acrux has done an IP swap with Soltec Research that will allow both companies to further their development of transdermal and topical therapeutics.

Both Acrux and Soltec have long-standing agreements with Monash University to exploit technology developed by the Victorian College of Pharmacy to enhance penetration of drugs delivered via the skin.

Monash University originally licensed three fields to Soltec and the remaining areas to Acrux.

Under the new arrangement, Monash University has licensed Acrux subsidiary Drug Delivery Solutions to develop transdermal antipyretics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) for pain relief.

Drug Delivery Solutions, in turn, has sub-licensed Soltec, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the US-based specialty pharmaceutical company Connetics Corp, to develop topical anaesthetics and psoriasis therapies.

Acrux's manager of business development, Dr Bev Thomas, said the company already had three transdermal "patchless" hormone therapies in clinical trials: estradiol, a form of hormone-replacement therapy, testosterone, for female sexual dysfunction, and fentanyl, an opioid for chronic pain control.

Thomas said Acrux had used the ACROSS technology to develop transdermal formulations that can be sprayed directly onto the skin to produce systemic drug delivery. The site is dry to the touch within two minutes.

The drug penetrates the skin rapidly, forming a subcutaneous reservoir that slowly releases the compound via the bloodstream, typically over a 24-hour period.

Delivering the drug at the required site, rather than orally, means it avoids being rapidly metabolised by in the liver. Dosages can be greatly reduced, minimising systemic side-effects.

Thomas said the new arrangements maximised the potential of the IP from the original research at the Victoria College of Pharmacy, by allowing Acrux and Soltec to use it in the fields in which their particular core competencies and business interests reside.