Development of abuse-deterrent nanotechnology formulation for effective pain management

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Altus Formulation Inc. is focused on the development of drug delivery technologies to generate cost effective 'safe to use' products to improve the lives of patients. Altus has developed an innovative series of amphiphilic and pH-sensitive block copolymers that can self-assemble in aqueous media to form nano-sized block copolymer micelles (BCMs) that entrap drugs within their cores and enable drug delivery. This proprietary series of block copolymers includes a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrophilic block that forms the outer shell of the micelles and a core-forming, drug trapping block that is comprised of a random copolymer of polymethacrylate and poly(t-butyl methacrylate) (abbreviated: PMA). The nature of the PMA core-forming block is such that it retains the drug in a non-crystalline form and protects it during transit through the stomach; due to its pH sensitivity the PMA block allows site-specific release of the drug once in the small intestine where drug absorption is maximized. To this point, Altus has conducted pre-clinical studies demonstrating the ability of PEG-b-PMA copolymer micelles to effectively deliver hydrophobic anti-cancer drugs following oral administration. Altus is now interested in expanding the use of this promising series of materials to create proprietary formulations of active agents as oral controlled release liquids for effective pain management.