Category: Pharmaceuticals

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Brain Pharmaceuticals Ultrasound

Implanted ultrasound allows powerful chemotherapy drugs to cross the blood brain barrier

Adam Sonaband and Northwestern colleages used a skull-implantable ultrasound device to open the blood-brain barrier and repeatedly permeate critical regions of the human brain, to deliver intravenous chemotherapy to glioblastoma patients.

This is the first study to successfully quantify the effect of ultrasound-based blood-brain barrier opening on the concentrations of chemotherapy in the human brain. It showed a four- to six-fold increase in concentrations of paclitaxel and carboplatin, powerful drugs not currently used in glioblastoma because they did not cross the blood brain barrier. Temozolomide does cross the blood-brain barrier, but is weaker.

This is also the first study to describe how quickly the blood-brain barrier closes after sonication, allowing optimization of the sequence of drug delivery and ultrasound activation to maximize drug penetration.

The ultrasound implantation takes four minutes, and the patient is awake. It is the basis of an ongoing phase 2 clinical trial.

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Brain Pharmaceuticals

Donanemab slowed memory decline by 35%, disease progression by 39%, in Alzheimer’s trial

Patients who received Eli Lily’s monthly donanemab infusion in an 18-month study demonstrated a 35% slower decline in memory, thinking, and ability to perform activities of daily living, and were 39% less likely to progress to the next stage of the disease. Brain plaque was also reduced significantly.

The risk of the drug is brain swelling and bleeding. Three trial participants died from these complications.

Lilly CSO/CMO Daniel Skovronsky said donanemab demonstrated the highest level of efficacy of any Alzheimer’s treatment in a clinical trial.

The company plans to apply for FDA approval in the coming months.

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Pharmaceuticals Sensors

Sweat sensor monitors drug levels, informs dosage

Sam Emaminejad, Shuyu Lin, Carlos Milla, Ronald Davis and UCLA and Stanford colleagues have developed a watch which monitors drug levels inside the body by analyzing a wearer’s sweat. The goal is individually tailored drug dosages.

Dosages are currently prescribed based on statistical effectiveness averages driven by weight and age. However, constantly changing body chemistry and an ones genetic makeup affect how fast drugs are absorbed, take effect and are eliminated from the body.

Current efforts to personalize the drug dosage rely heavily on repeated blood draws at the hospital. The samples are then sent out to be analyzed in central labs. These solutions are inconvenient, time-consuming, invasive and expensive. That is why they are only performed on a small subset of patients and on rare occasions.

Emaminjegad wanted to “create a wearable technology that can track the profile of medication inside the body continuously and non-invasively” and he seems to have succeeded, using tiny droplets of sweat.

In a recent study, he tracked the effect of acetaminophen, over a period of hours, by stimulating sweat glands with an electric current, and accurately detecting the drug’s unique electrochemical signal, against the backdrop of signals from many other molecules that may be circulating in the body and in higher concentrations than the drug.

The technology can personalize pharmacotherapy approaches, and, according to Emaminejad also be used to monitor medication adherence and drug abuse.

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Pharmaceuticals Virtual Reality

VR-enhanced molecular simulations

University of Bristol researchers, Oracle and Interactive Scientific  have used Oracle’s cloud infrastructure to combine real-time molecular simulations with VR, enabling them to “touch” molecules as they move — highlighting the potential of VR in seeing and manipulating complex 3D structures.  The technology could change how drugs are designed, and transform the teaching of chemical structures and dynamics.

The molecules can be virtually folded, knotted, plucked, and their shape changed to test how they interact.  The cloud allows several people to interact with them  in the same virtual space at the same time.

The team designed a series of molecular tasks to test on a mouse and keyboard, touchscreens and VR. This included threading a small molecule through a nanotube, changing the screw-sense of a small organic helix and tying a small string-like protein into a simple knot.  They said that in complex 3D tasks, VR gave participants up to 10 times more success.

Acocording to Bristol Professor Adrian Mulholland: “Chemists have always made models of molecules to understand their structure – from how atoms are bonded together to Watson and Crick’s famous double helix model of DNA. At one point in their education, most people have held a molecular model, probably made from plastic or metal. Models like these are particularly important for things we can’t see, such as the nanoscale world of molecules.  Thanks to this research we can now apply virtual reality to study a variety of molecular problems which are inherently dynamic, including binding drugs to its target, protein folding and chemical reactions. As simulations become faster we can now do this in real time which will change how drugs are designed and how chemical structures are taught.”

Click to view University of Bristol video

Join ApplySci at the 9th Wearable Tech + Digital Health + Neurotech Boston conference on September 24, 2018 at the MIT Media Lab.  Speakers include:  Rudy Tanzi – Mary Lou Jepsen – George Church – Roz Picard – Nathan Intrator – Keith Johnson – Juan Enriquez – John Mattison – Roozbeh Ghaffari – Poppy Crum – Phillip Alvelda – Marom Bikson

REGISTRATION RATES INCREASE JULY 13th

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Infectious Disease Pharmaceuticals Sensors

Piezoelectric sensor determines antibiotic efficacy in 1 hour

Ward Johnson and NIST colleagues have developed a piezoelectric sensor to rapidly determine whether an antibiotic combats an infection. Quartz-crystal resonators, with varying vibrations, measure surface particle changes, to quickly sense mechanical fluctuations of bacterial cells and changes induced by an antibiotic.

 Results are provided in less than an hour.  Current antimicrobial tests require days to grow colonies of bacterial cells, which could result in the progression of infections before an effective treatment is identified, and lead to antibiotic resistant bacterial infections.

Click to view NIST video.

Join ApplySci at Wearable Tech + Digital Health + Neurotech Silicon Valley on February 26-27, 2018 at Stanford University, featuring:  Vinod Khosla – Justin Sanchez – Brian Otis – Bryan Johnson – Zhenan Bao – Nathan Intrator – Carla Pugh – Jamshid Ghajar – Mark Kendall

 

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Data Diabetes Pharmaceuticals Wearables

Sanofi/Verily joint venture to fight diabetes

Big pharma + big tech/data partnerships continue to proliferate.

Onduo is a Sanofi/Verily joint venture that will use each company’s expertise to help manage diabetes  — Sanofi’s drugs  plus Verily’s software, data analysis, and devices. CEO Josh Riff and has not announced a project pipeline, as they are taking “a thoughtful approach to finding lasting solutions.”

Sutter Health and Allegheny Health Network will  be the first systems to test Onduo solutions.

ApplySci’s 6th   Wearable Tech + Digital Health + NeuroTech Silicon Valley  –  February 7-8 2017 @ Stanford   |   Featuring:   Vinod Khosla – Tom Insel – Zhenan Bao – Phillip Alvelda – Nathan Intrator – John Rogers – Mary Lou Jepsen – Vivek Wadhwa – Miguel Nicolelis – Roozbeh Ghaffari – Unity Stoakes

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Pharmaceuticals

Takeda’s digital transformation

Pharmaceutical giant Takeda is amid a digital transformation — with a patient-centric approach to drug development, wearable device adoption, and sophisticated data analysis.  Leading this effort is Bruno  Villetelle, Takeda’s Chief Digital Officer.  Bruno was a keynote speaker at ApplySci’s recent Wearable Tech + Digital Health + NeuroTech San Francisco conference, where he discussed digital pharma companions, drawing insights from other industries, creating a culture of innovation, and partnering with entrepreneurs to develop cutting edge technology — culminating in the concept of the patient driving his/her own healthcare  — a message that was echoed throughout the event.

Click to view Bruno Villetelle, and colleague Nicole Mowad-Nassar, interviewed by StartUp Health’s Unity Stoakes at the conference.

ApplySci’s 6th   Wearable Tech + Digital Health + NeuroTech Silicon Valley  –  February 7-8 2017 @ Stanford   |   Featuring:   Vinod Khosla – Tom Insel – Zhenan Bao – Phillip Alvelda – Nathan Intrator – John Rogers – Mary Lou Jepsen – Vivek Wadhwa – Miguel Nicolelis – Roozbeh Ghaffari – Unity Stoakes

 

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Pharmaceuticals

Portable, on-demand biopharmaceutical manufacturing

Tim Lu and MIT colleagues are developing a microfluidic/programmable yeast system to produce small batches of pharmaceuticals on demand.  The project, which could deliver biologic medications, including vaccines, to remote locations, for both military and civilian use,  was funded by DARPA.

The team  cultivated  Pichia pastoris, a programmable yeast that grows densely and is able to express large amounts of protein. It was genetically modified to allow for the production of multiple medications.

The hand held bioreactor contains a microfluidic chip. Liquid laced with chemical triggers is fed into the device, and mixed with the yeast. Temperature, oxygen, and pH levels are monitored to ensure an ideal environment for protein production.

In one day,  a near single dose of biopharmaceuticals was produced. The process could then start over, with a different liquid trigger, using the same yeast, once the previous fluid has been flushed out.

The team believes that this work could one day  lead to a “small-scale, portable, and fully integrated personal biomanufacturing platform that could advance disease treatment at point-of-care.”

An earlier portable pharmaceutical system was introduced by Allan Myerson last year.

Click to view Nature paper.

Digital Health + NeuroTech Silicon Valley – February 7-8, 2017 @ Stanford University

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Data Pharmaceuticals

Big data / pharma partnership to model diseases, treatments

IBM and Israeli generic drug giant Teva will partner to develop treatments for chronic conditions using the  Watson Health Cloud.

Their stated goal is “to put the best information and insights in the hands of physicians, care teams and patients, to empower treatment optimization for individuals and populations across the spectrum of acute and chronic conditions.”   Asthma, pain, migraine and neurodegenerative diseases are early targets.

The big data / pharma partnership could reduce drug misuse or increase adherence.  A joint research team will develop platforms to model diseases and potential therapeutic treatments.

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Apps mHealth Monitoring Pharmaceuticals Seniors Sensors

Ingestible sensors alert doctors and caregivers when a pill is taken

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2013/04/16/the-newest-high-tech-pill-will-text-when-swallowed/

Proteus Digital Health is creating a new category of products, services and data systems that have the potential to significantly improve the effectiveness of existing pharmaceutical treatments.  Called Digital Medicines, these new pharmaceuticals will contain a tiny sensor that can communicate, via a digital health feedback system, vital information about an individual’s medication-taking behavior and how their body is responding.