Eiffel signs new drug delivery agreement

Eiffel Technologies (ASX: EIF) has signed a new agreement with specialist UK drug company Profile Therapeutics to investigate delivery methods for an undisclosed pharmaceutical compound.

The deal is Eiffel's fifth within eight months in the area of drug reformulation utilising the company's SuperCritical Fluid (SCF) technology.

"It's an indication of the rapid acceptance of SCF technology within the pharmaceutical industry and a very positive endorsement that Eiffel is now received as a key player in the international arena of SCF for pharmaceutical reformulation," said chief executive officer Christine Cussen.

"The momentum is clearly building in the use of SCF techniques for pharmaceutical reformulation.

"We believe that the low number of commercial competitors in this sector and the very strong interest in the technology by the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries have been key factors in Eiffel signing its fifth international drug-delivery agreement."

Eiffel has not named the compound to be investigated, nor the indication it is likely to target. It has revealed only that the investigative project is expected to take about six months.

The Profile agreement comes less than three weeks after Eiffel announced it had signed its second deal with pulmonary medicines maker BattellePharma to create nanoparticles for the US company's asthma product.

Eiffel's first deal with BattellePharma was struck late last year, in which the Melbourne-based company agreed to provide sub-micron sized particles for testing in the US group's electrohydrodynamic Mystic pulmonary delivery device.

Other agreements signed by Eiffel include one in November last year with Sheffield Pharmaceuticals to reformulate pulmonary drugs, and one signed in May with Amarin Corporation to apply SCF technology to slow-release drugs.

SCF is described by the company as a chemical engineering technique that is able to produce fine and consistent drug particles minus the traditional crushing, milling and grinding techniques currently employed.

It is believed the technique allows for a greater absorption of active pharmaceutical compounds into the body and more drug delivery options.

Eiffel predicts a swifter track to market for drugs reformulated via SCF technology because it was often applied to medicines that had already been used in humans.

At the time of writing Eiffel's shares were unchanged at 13 cents.