Injections to Become Pills, in Vision of Harvard-launched Startup
09 Abril 2020 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
New formulations enable oral delivery of therapeutics
traditionally delivered intravenously
A new startup, i2O Therapeutics, has launched to commercialize
innovations developed at Harvard University that may one day enable
patients and clinicians to give up syringes in favor of pills.
Using ionic liquid technologies developed in the lab of Harvard
bioengineer Samir Mitragotri, PhD, biologic therapies that would
normally need to be delivered via needle may be reformulated and
encapsulated as pills for oral delivery. Harvard’s Office of
Technology Development has granted i2O Therapeutics an exclusive
license to the technology, to develop safe and effective oral
formulations for a range of biologics, large molecules, and
peptide-based pharmaceuticals. The company has raised $4M in seed
funding from Sanofi Ventures and the JDRF T1D Fund to advance its
mission, and will initially focus on developing formulations for
GLP1 analogs, glucagon-like peptides that help balance glucose
levels to treat diabetes.
“Our technology has the potential to enable the oral delivery of
high-value drugs in a safer, more effective and patient-friendly
way and also by easing the treatment burden for dozens of
therapeutics that were previously restricted to intravenous or
subcutaneous delivery,” said Mitragotri, who is Hiller Professor of
Bioengineering and Hansjorg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired
Engineering at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and
Applied Sciences (SEAS) and a Core Faculty member at Harvard’s Wyss
Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.
Three main obstacles typically prevent the administration of
protein drugs by mouth. Digestive enzymes in the gut can easily
destabilize the molecules; a layer of thin mucus in the gut
presents a physical barrier; and the cells lining the wall of the
gut have extremely tight junctions that can prevent the transport
of proteins. The Mitragotri Lab’s innovations have been shown to
overcome all three.
In a 2018 publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences, Mitragotri’s lab demonstrated the successful oral
delivery of insulin, in animal models, using ionic liquids. “We
showed that we can formulate insulin in the ionic liquid, we can
stabilize it, and we can get substantial fractions of the delivered
dose into blood circulation,” Mitragotri said. The lab received
funding and strategic advising from Harvard’s Blavatnik Biomedical
Accelerator to further advance and validate the technology. “The
translational funding from the Blavatnik Accelerator was very
significant, very important to the development of these
innovations,” Mitragotri said.
The ionic liquids developed in Mitragotri’s lab are essentially
liquid salts, composed of small-ion ingredients that are generally
regarded as safe. “By choosing the right ions, you can control the
properties, so you can make them more viscous, less viscous, more
tissue penetrating, or inert,” he explained. “We pair these
formulations up with specific drugs, and we have shown in the lab
that a variety of drugs can be delivered, like insulin, including
other peptides, small molecules, and antibodies.”
“The primary indications are likely to include diabetes,
autoimmune disease, and oncology. Those are the key areas where we
see this platform making a strong impact,” Mitragotri added.
The technology has the potential to ease the burden of treatment
for numerous conditions and improve patients’ overall
experience.
“For millions of patients worldwide, a pill would be more
attractive than a therapy that needs to be injected. Oral delivery
of biologics is a challenge that many engineers and chemists have
tried to address, and one that becomes more urgent as modalities
trend toward peptide, antibody, and mRNA therapies,” said Isaac
Kohlberg, Harvard’s Senior Associate Provost and Chief Technology
Development Officer. “Through their years of research efforts and
translational support from the Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator,
the Mitragotri Lab has created a unique and innovative drug
delivery platform with compelling validational results. We’re
pleased that through the launch of this startup, the team will be
able to move it to the next stage of development and toward the
clinic.”
Several entrepreneurial members of Mitragotri’s Harvard lab have
taken up roles at the company. Tyler Brown, PhD ’19, completed his
doctoral studies in bioengineering at Harvard SEAS; he is now a
Principal Scientist at i2O. Kelly Ibsen, PhD, was a research fellow
in the Mitragotri Lab and is now the company’s Director of Research
and Strategic Project Management. Mitragotri is a co-founder and
board member of i2O and will be a scientific advisor to the new
company, which is currently housed at the Pagliuca Harvard Life
Lab.
“It’s extremely satisfying to see the technology make this jump
from an academic discovery to a company that is moving it forward
towards clinical application,” Mitragotri said. “That's what really
drives us as bioengineers, to see our technologies eventually reach
and help patients.”
About Harvard University’s Office of Technology
Development
Harvard’s Office of Technology Development (OTD) promotes the
public good by fostering innovation and translating new inventions
made at Harvard University into useful products that are available
and beneficial to society. Our integrated approach to technology
development comprises sponsored research and corporate alliances,
intellectual property management, and technology commercialization
through venture creation and licensing. More than 70 startups have
launched to commercialize Harvard technologies in the past 5 years,
collectively raising more than $2.5 billion in financing. To
further bridge the academic-industry development gap, Harvard OTD
manages the Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator and the Physical
Sciences & Engineering Accelerator. For more information,
please visit https://otd.harvard.edu.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005105/en/
Caroline Perry, caroline_perry@harvard.edu Harvard Office of
Technology Development