Aphios
Announces R&D Collaboration with 2 Japanese Companies
Published
in Pharma Japan Vol. No.1953 Page 19
August
1, 2005
—
Aphios Corporation,
a biopharmaceutical company based in Woburn, Massachusetts,
recently announced an R&D collaboration with Bio Research
Corporation of Yokohama and Tokyo Supply to develop an anticancer
therapeutic that can be administered orally. The three companies
plan to develop a water-soluble paclitaxel prodrug. The
molecule is a combination of a paclitaxel molecule and a
sugar molecule that enhaces solubility. The water solubility
of the prodrug reportedly makes it unnecessary to dissolve
paclitaxel in a castor oil based excipient. If development
is successful, the systemic toxicity of the castor oil and
any dose-limitations due to the castor oil excipient will
be eliminated.
