News

-NEXTREAM and OAControl projects awarded Euro 13 million BMM funding-

June 26, 2008 - Groningen, The Netherlands - InnoCore Technologies, a leading provider of advanced biodegradable drug delivery technologies to the medical device and pharmaceutical industry, was informed today by the Dutch BioMedical Materials' (BMM) Executive Board that two programs in which it is involved - the NEXTREAM cardiovascular program and the OAControl osteoarthritis program, were granted a total of Euro 13 million BMM funding. The funding will allow InnoCore to substantially strengthen its drug delivery research activities and create advanced drug delivery products in close collaboration with outstanding consortium partners as to address the current needs in the cardiovascular and osteoarthritis market."

A total of 50 million Euro was granted to seven projects proposals. The 50 million Euros will be invested in research on cardiovascular and musculoskeletal diseases as well as on biomedical coatings and targeted drug delivery. The seven projects were selected from a portfolio of projects that was submitted to BMM. All proposals were assessed by an independent International Scientific Advisory Board, a group of renowned scientists, with expertise in the relevant fields. Each project addresses a clinical need and aims for specific biomedical materials breakthroughs. The projects comprise a multidisciplinary research effort, involving clinical and technological researchers. The approved projects have been selected on the basis of scientific quality, impact on public healthcare as well as on economic and societal relevance.

NEXTREAM, lead by Principal Investigator Prof Carlie A. de Vries, PhD of Amsterdam Medical Center, Department of Medical biochemistry, aims at developing novel next generation drug eluting stents (DES) with an improved safety profile to overcome the increased late thrombosis risks of the current generation DES. Following a multi-focal approach, both novel anti-restenotic compounds, as well as advanced drug eluting coating concepts will be developed. The active compounds will be based on the recently identified nuclear receptor Nur77-agonists. Contrary to currently applied cytotoxic sirolimus and paclitaxel which inhibit re-endothelialization eventually leading to late thrombosis, Nur77 agonists act cell specifically and are expected to effectively inhibit restenosis and promote re-endothelialialization as well, a combination considered crucial for the development of a coronary stent that is both clinically effective and safe at the long term. Bioresorbable polymeric coatings and nanostructured inorganic coatings will be developed and applied as DES coatings for this bioactive. Bioresorbable coatings minimize the risk of late thrombosis since they are completely resorbed after completion of drug delivery, thus outperforming the current biostable DES coatings. Nanostructured inorganic coatings are considered a novel approach for polymer-free drug-eluting stents with well controlled release kinetics and long-term biocompatibility.

The OAControl program, lead by Principal Investigator Prof Marcel Karperien, PhD of The Department of Tissue Regeneration, University of Twente, focuses on new therapies for the treatment of osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis and the major cause of chronic musculoskeletal pain and disability. The current management of osteoarthritis is merely symptomatic, aimed at a reduction of pain or total joint replacement. In this program the partners will develop novel biomaterial-based injectable drug delivery systems for local delivery of highly potent anti-catabolic or anabolic drugs that cannot be applied systemically because of side-effects and the difficulty to reach the diseased cartilage.

For further information about InnoCore's BMM projects please contact:

Rob Steendam, PhD, Director Technology & Development, +31 50 368 07 71 

About InnoCore

InnoCore Technologies - innovators in drug delivery- is a leading provider of advanced biodegradable drug delivery technologies to the medical device and pharmaceutical industry. Through development ad licensing partnerships, and using its proprietary SynBiosys biodegradable polymer platform, InnoCore creates next generation injectable and implantable drug delivery products as well as drug eluting medical implants, including drug-eluting coronary stents. InnoCore is located in Groningen, The Netherlands (http://www.innocore.nl; http://www.synbiosys.eu).

About BioMedical Materials (BMM) program

The Biomedical Materials program (BMM) is a public private partnership in The Netherlands dedicated to the development of novel biomedical materials and their applications. Dutch universities, university medical centers, charity foundations (Nederlandse Hartstichting en Nierstichting), a large group of small and medium-sized enterprises, major industry leaders and the Dutch Government are partners in the BMM consortium. It is based on the vision that biomedical materials will play a key role in achieving medical breakthroughs that will enable the functional repair and regeneration of tissue, and in the future, possibly organs. A total amount of 90 million Euro is available for pre-competitive research projects in the next five years period. The funding is provided by the Dutch government and the BMM partners jointly (http://www.bmm-program.com).