KINETICALLY CONTROLLABLE, THERAPEUTIC TOPICAL DELIVERY OF NITRIC OXIDE THROUGH NOVEL BIODEGRADABLE"PSEUDO-PROTEIN"BIOMATERIALS

iFyber LLC, the lead company for this project, will partner with Prof. CC Chu from Cornell University, a recognized expert in the development and study of new drug-eluting biomaterials for wound healing, to develop a platform technology for controlled release of nitric using a newly invented family of novel biodegradable amino acid-based poly(ester amide)s (AA-PEAs). These pseudo-protein biomaterials have been engineered into different physical forms including gels, fibrous membranes, micro/nanospheres. These novel pseudo-protein biomaterials have already been demonstrated in vitro and in vivo to elicit far lower levels of inflammation than existing FDA-approved commercial biomaterials. The current efforts will exploit AA-PEA-based biodegradable biomaterials that are enzymatically biodegradable and have pendant functional groups that can be used to conjugate condensed-phase nitric oxide (NO) moieties. Controlled release of nitric oxide with be fine-tuned using a combination of NO moiety breakdown and enzymatic biodegradation of the NO-containing AA-PEA biomaterials.