Merck & InnoCore collaboration could be a step forward in biologics delivery, says GlobalData

The recent collaboration between Merck and InnoCore Pharmaceuticals for the development of a new drug delivery platform that will improve compliance could be a step forward in the delivery of biologics, according to Rahael Maladwala, pharma analyst at GlobalData.

“One of the biggest environmental unmet needs in the pharmaceutical market is a lack of compliance,” said Maladwala. “Whether this is due to invasive drug delivery, adverse events, or a complicated dosing regime, many patients that start a biologic treatment do not finish the course.”

The agreement between Merck and InnoCore will involve InnoCore’s proprietary SynBiosys biodegradable polymer platform for the development of sustained release solutions for biologicals in injectable formulations. Sustained release has proved difficult for biological APIs until now, and will offer improved compliance as patients will require less frequent dosing.

“Often biologics can only be delivered by a healthcare provider on a weekly or monthly basis, which may be difficult for some patients, particularly in chronic indications that cause psychosis and hallucinations, such as schizophrenia, and those that impact movement, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,” Maladwala continued. “Indeed, it was estimated that the cost of non-compliance in the US cost the economy somewhere between $100 billion and $290 billion per year, according to the US National Library of Medicine.

“Sustained release drugs for small molecule drugs are common place in the pharmaceutical market; however, this type of technology has not been seen before for biologic molecules and would increase compliance by reducing the dosing frequency.

“Merck is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world and has a strong pipeline portfolio, with several biologic drugs targeting various different therapy areas, including oncology, cardiovascular, and infectious diseases. If the company can successfully utilise this drug delivery system in the future, their drugs would be at a significant advantage to others on the market and would help fasten their uptake.

“Moving forward, it is likely that we see other pharmaceutical companies look to collaborate with companies such as InnoCore, to help address environmental unmet needs such as compliance, and with increased compliance comes fewer patient complications, which saves physician time and reduces the cost on the healthcare provider.”