Eiffel signs US insulin trial deal

Melbourne drug re-engineering company Eiffel Technologies (ASX:EIF) has signed an agreement with a large US drug-delivery company to trial an inhalable form of insulin produced by Eiffel's proprietary supercritical fluid technology.

Eiffel's MD and CEO, Christine Cussen, said the company could not identify its collaborator, which will spend up to 12 months doing pre-clinical R&D on inhalable insulin in an animal model.

She pointed out that Eiffel's new partner was not the same one with which Eiffel signed an agreement earlier this year to re-engineer an undisclosed protein for pre-clinical trials. That agreement involved a major international pharmaceutical company.

Eiffel's proprietary technology employs supercritical fluids -- highly compressed gases with the appearance and some of the properties of fluids -- as novel solvents.

Supercritical fluids readily dissolve many compounds that are almost insoluble in water or alcohol, and which are poorly absorbed by the body due to a combination of their relatively large particle size, and poor solubility in body fluids.

The drugs come out of supercritical solution immediately pressure is released, and condense as fine, smoke-like spherical particles at least 10 times smaller than can be produced by conventional milling. The smaller the particle, the more rapidly it is absorbed by the body; particles in the sub-micron, or nanometre range, open up new drug-delivery options.

Cussen said Eiffel researchers were exploring all drug-delivery options: injectable, transdermal and inhalable.

Researchers at Deakin University last year showed that 'nanomised' insulin is three times more effective than conventional insulin, produces a more stable blood-glucose profile, and longer-lasting.

In a statement, Eiffel said the potential global market for the delivery for all injectable, inhalable or transdermal drugs was US$40-50 billion. The global diabetes market is worth around $6 billion, and growing rapidly.

Cussen said that in addition to its external program, Eiffel was also undertaking an in-house insulin re-engineering program focused on an improved injectable form of the drug.

Eiffel will bear the costs of early-stage pre-clinical and clinical development before licensing out its technology to pharmaceutical companies.