Proprietary Rel-Ease drug delivery technology: opportunity for sustained delivery of peptides, proteins and small molecules.

Author(s): Ye M, Bhat G, Johnston KA, Tan H, Garnick M

Affiliation(s): Praecis Pharmaceuticals Inc., 830 Winter Street, Waltham, MA 02451, USA. mingye02@hotmail.com

Publication date & source: 2006-09, Expert Opin Drug Deliv., 3(5):663-75.

Publication type: Review

Proprietary Rel-Ease (Praecis Pharmaceuticals) drug delivery technology uses biocompatible polymers as carriers to incorporate a drug into a polymer matrix through opposite charge interaction or complexation. The resulting low solubility complexes can be used to prepare sustained release depot injections or potentially sustained release formulations for oral administration. As a regulatory approved and commercialised drug delivery technology, Rel-Ease is used in abarelix for injectable suspension, a monthly depot injection for the treatment of patients with advanced prostate cancer. The technology offers high drug loading and minimal-to-no initial burst effect in vivo. It uses aqueous processes and is compatible for complexation with many peptide and protein therapeutics; its mechanism can also be applied to many small-molecule therapeutics and offers conventional and alternative methods for sustained release delivery via an oral route.