Kala Looking to Fund Expansion into Drug Delivery System Using Mucous Penetrating Particles

"Drugs that must pass through protective layers of mucus to deliver treatment to organs of the body are often not very effective, because the mucus—a sticky, meshlike material—prevents the drug from ever reaching its intended target," according to a Johns Hopkins University Ventures newsletter.

"But hope is on the horizon in the form of a novel drug delivery system developed over the past 15 years by a research team led by Justin Hanes, director of the Center for Nanomedicine at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins.

"Hanes’s system packages drugs into nanoparticles small enough to penetrate a mucus layer through tiny openings in the sticky mesh, and it gives those nanoparticles a minimally adhesive coating that enables them to slide through the mesh without getting stuck to it. Kala Pharmaceuticals, a startup co-founded by Hanes, is developing these coated nanoparticles."

In another release about the development: "Biopharmaceutical firm Kala Pharmaceuticals is focused on developing treatments for eye conditions and diseases using its proprietary mucous penetrating particles technologies," according to Don Dion, of SA Stock Market News. "The company completed very promising Phase III clinical trials for delivering drugs to relieve pain and inflammation following ocular surgery. So far, it has applied MPP technology in two product candidates (KPI-121 1.0% and KPI-121 0.25%), both of which are in Phase III clinical development. It anticipates submitting new drug applications for KPI-121 1.0% and KPI-121 0.25% by the end of 2017 and the first half of 2018, respectively. Kala Pharmaceuticals was founded in 2009 and is based in Waltham, Mass." For more information go to these sites: SA Stock Market News and Johns Hopkins University Ventures Program.