SBIR Phase I: Well-defined PEGylated multiblock polyamino acids for protein drug delivery

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project contributes solutions to two problems faced by therapeutic techniques using protein drugs: (i) current carriers for protein drugs are nonuniform on a molecular level and (ii) the efficacy of protein drugs diminishes by the carriers currently used for administering protein drugs. An innovative synthetic technique is provided that allows absolute control over the molecular weight of such carriers, hence generating uniform carrier systems. The interaction of these new carrier systems with the protein drugs is minimal and will therefore have no detrimental effect on the efficacy of the protein drug. Moreover, this technique is a substantial improvement over current techniques, since it does not rely on metal catalysts and it is scaleable. The broader impacts of this research are, to develop tailor-made drug delivery vehicles by technologies that readily adopt to the specific biochemical requirements of new protein drugs. Pharma companies are constantly identifying, developing and manufacturing novel therapeutic peptides and proteins. All of these novel protein drugs need a delivery vehicle that accommodates their fragile nature. Hence, the proposed technology is responsive to societal needs, that is, a critical demand for new types of drug delivery systems to keep pace with the developments of the pharma industry. The drug delivery systems proposed by Alamanda Polymers hold this potential and are of interest to academic and national research institutions and biotechnology companies. This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).