Apricus Biosciences, Inc., also known as the San Diego Hospice, or the “Hospice,” announced today that it has signed a clinical development collaboration agreement with The Institute for Palliative Medicine to study the use of the company’s drug delivery technology in the hospice setting, according to a company press release.
Clinicians at the Hospice will review whether common medications applied to the surface of the skin can be delivered to patients better and less painfully with the Company’s NexACT drug delivery technology.
The NexACT technology allows hospice doctors to deliver drugs less invasively than other methods, very important in treating patients who cannot withstand more rigorous interventions, according to the press release.
Apricus Bio’s NexACT technology consists of a small molecule which penetrates the skin more deeply to enable the body to absorb “high concentrations of an active pharmaceutical ingredient directly” and more rapidly “at the target site” rapidly, according to the press release.
An integral part of care of the cancer patient is maintaining access to the body’s vascular system and repeated needle penetrations from chemotherapy, nutrition administration and blood sampling, can weaken or destroy patients’ veins. Since a topical, like an oral medication can simply be applied to the skin, or swallowed, it has no effect on a patient’s vascular system.
The company said in the press release that it believes that drugs that are combined with this molecule can get into a patient’s body quicker, delivered directly to a patient’s bloodstream or wherever they are needed, to make the medication take effect more quickly.
“Our NexACTdrug delivery technology is ideally suited to deliver therapeutic compounds in the hospice setting where non-invasive delivery technologies complement the Hospice’s mission ‘to prevent and relieve suffering and promote quality of life, at every stage of life,’” said Dr. Bassam Damaj, Apricus Bio’s chairman, president and CEO, in the press release.
“Alternative clinically proven and validated drug delivery technologies such as Apricus Bio’s NexACT are badly needed in the hospice patient setting where many patients can’t or won’t tolerate more invasive delivery methods such as injections,” added Charles F. von Gunten, MD, PhD, editor-in-chief, Journal of Palliative Medicine and Provost, The Institute for Palliative Medicine at the San Diego Hospice, in the press release.
Edited by
Jennifer Russell
