Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SQUALAC (Preclinical development of squalenic acid and gemcitabine squalene nanomedicine)
Période du rapport: 2015-03-01 au 2016-08-31
In the course of this project, we looked for alternative oxidizing agents. After many attempts, we discovered that the required oxidation steps could be efficiently performed using a Sulfur (VI) oxidizing agent and that the trisnor-squalenic acid could be obtained through this chemical pathway with a 60-65% yield. With the help of a patent attorney, the patentability of this important finding was investigated and it was, however, concluded that the synthesis pathway was new, but that the step of inventiveness was not sufficient for patenting. The scaling-up of the preparation of Gem-SQ nanoparticles has been further investigated through microfluidics experiments to identify the key parameters and the nanoparticles were successfully freeze-dryed in order to provide stable conservation of the nanoparticle sample. Finally, the added value and market positioning of Gemcitabine-Squalene nanoparticles has been investigated by Efficient Innovation as subcontractor and it was concluded that the Gem-SQ nanomedicine represents an interesting improved delivery formulation of Gemcitabine but that a very limited number of pharmaceutical companies are still currently interested in the development of small molecules as cytostatics. In addition, preclinical deal value seems very limited to an up-front of around $1M (based on comparative deals).