Absorption Systems LP today announced that it has been awarded a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to continue development of the company’s CellPort Technologies™ testing platform. This unique assay platform enables more specific prediction of potential drug-drug interactions mediated by human drug transport proteins. CellPort Technologies will become a key component of what is referred to as “Translational Medicine,” the process of translating the results from in vitro assays in model systems into human outcomes in the clinic.
CellPort Technologies is a suite of proprietary in vitro test systems designed to provide definitive human prediction regarding interactions of drugs with a class of proteins called drug transporters. Drug transporters play a vital role in mediating drug disposition throughout the body. A drug that interferes with the ability of a transporter to eliminate another (co-administered) drug can lead to elevated levels of the second drug, raising concerns about drug safety and toxicity.
“One benefit of the CellPort approach is that we have maintained species continuity,” said Al Owen, Ph.D., Senior VP of Scientific Operations. "Unlike results from other commonly used test systems, our results are not confounded by the presence of non-human transporters. Positive interactions with the CellPort system will translate directly to the clinic, as these systems are non-ambiguous models for human drug-transporter interactions. Other test systems for drug transporters can produce ambiguous, and sometimes confusing, experimental outcomes.”
Patrick M. Dentinger, President and CEO of Absorption Systems, added, “We are proud to have been awarded this grant and are very encouraged by the commitment from the FDA to develop better, more predictive research tools. We feel strongly that models of human origin will ultimately be the tools of choice in future drug development programs. This grant is another step in the commitment by the FDA to reach the goal of Translational Medicine.”
The grant will allow Absorption Systems to dedicate staff for the next two years to optimize, scale-up and ultimately commercialize the technology.
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