pSivida Corp., a leader in the development of sustained release products for treating eye diseases, today announced that the Company presented the first peer-reviewed preclinical data demonstrating the use of pSivida’s Tethadur™ technology to provide sustained release of Avastin at the 14th Annual Meeting of ARVO (Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology).
pSivida’s Dinesh K. Nadarassan presented a poster entitled “Sustained Release of Bevacizumab (Avastin) from BioSilicon”. The data from preclinical studies conducted by pSivida concluded that long-term sustained release of antibodies such as Avastin is achievable with Tethadur, a form of pSivida’s BioSilicon™ technology, and that the release of the antibodies is controllable over a wide range by adjusting the pore size and surface area of Tethadur.
“The implications of the ability to control the duration of sustained delivery of antibodies through pore size are significant,” said Dr. Paul Ashton, president and chief executive officer of pSivida. “By varying pore size, we believe the release rate of antibodies loaded into Tethadur can be controlled, which could permit sustained delivery of antibodies that currently must be delivered by frequent injections. For example, Avastin and the two of the top-selling Veg-F ophthalmic drugs today are injected as frequently as once a month.”
pSivida’s Tethadur, an application of BioSilicon technology, is designed to provide sustained delivery of large biologic molecules, including peptides, proteins and antibodies. BioSilicon technology utilizes a fully-erodible, honeycomb structure of nano-porous, elemental silicon to provide sustained delivery of therapeutics. The study evaluated the effect of pore size in Tethadur on Avastin release over a period of three weeks.
About pSivida Corp.
pSivida Corp., headquartered in Watertown, MA, develops tiny, sustained release, drug delivery products designed to deliver drugs at a controlled and steady rate for months or years. pSivida is currently focused on treatment of chronic diseases of the back of the eye utilizing its core technologies, Durasert™ and Tethadur™. The injectable, sustained release micro-insert ILUVIEN® for the treatment of chronic DME considered insufficiently responsive to available therapies, licensed to Alimera Sciences, Inc., is marketed in the U.K. and Germany and has also received marketing authorization in Austria, France, Portugal, and Spain and is awaiting authorization in Italy. Alimera has filed for ten additional EU country approvals through the Mutual Recognition Procedure. Alimera is seeking FDA approval for ILUVIEN for DME in the US. pSivida has commenced a Phase III clinical trial of Medidur™ for the treatment of posterior uveitis, a chronic back-of-the-eye disease, which uses the same micro-insert as ILUVIEN. An investigator-sponsored clinical trial is ongoing for an injectable, bioerodible micro-insert to treat glaucoma and ocular hypertension, a product candidate on which Pfizer Inc. has an option. pSivida's FDA-approved Retisert®, licensed to Bausch & Lomb Incorporated, provides long-term, sustained drug delivery to treat posterior uveitis.