Oral delivery of TNF blockers

Sydney biotech Apollo Life Sciences has announced a second breakthrough in as many weeks for its oral delivery platform Oradel, this time with a tumour necrosis factor (TNF) blocker for rheumatoid arthritis.

Apollo recently successfully completed Phase 1 toxicology trials for orally delivered insulin. The Oradel platform is based on delivering large, water soluble proteins, including insulin and antibodies, in tablet form.

Results from preclinical studies indicated oral doses of Apollo's TNF blocker ALS-00T2 using Oradel significantly reduced inflammation to a comparable degree to subcutaneous injection of the molecule.

The studies involved the extended carrageenan-induced paw oedema model, a standard test in which a rat's hind paw is inflamed by injecting carrageenan, a type of seaweed. The carrageenan model is classically used in the development of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

The studies showed that the Oradel technology can be used to deliver an antibody-sized drug, such as ALS-00T2, in a more convenient form than is now possible. Large proteins and antibody-based drugs are a growing class of therapeutics that still need to be injected because they are usually destroyed by the stomach's digestive acids.

"Apollo's Oradel protects the protein in the stomach and makes sure the drug travels across the stomach wall to where it can work," said Apollo's director of science, Dr Greg Russell-Jones. "This is a breakthrough. We understand no one else has been able to deliver antibodies and large proteins such as TNF blockers in tablet form."