Patch delivery for amine drugs

The patent covers the use of the company's technology in transdermal patches to deliver the wide drug category of amine drugs, which includes a variety of compounds used to treat conditions ranging from Alzheimer's disease, to enlarged prostate, to acid reflux disease. To date, prescription drugs used in the treatment of these diseases have been available primarily in oral dosage forms.

Depending on the condition being treated, there are a number of potential consumer benefits to having the choice of a patch delivery alternative to an oral prescription. These benefits include improved patient compliance and minimisation or elimination of side effects associated with oral delivery.

Dermatrends' patent (No 6,719,997) concerns the use of hydroxide releasing agents with amine drugs. In its application, Dermatrends demonstrated that its base hydroxide-releasing agent was able to increase flux rates, or permeation through the skin.

Amine drugs are a very broad category of therapeutic drugs with approved compounds numbering literally in the thousands. Marketed drugs in this category include Eisai and Pfizer's Aricept (donepezil) and Johnson & Johnson/Shire Pharmaceuticals' Reminyl (galantamine), both used to treat Alzheimer's disease, and also the compounds tamsulosin, finasteride and dutasteride, all of which are used in the treatment of enlargement of the prostate.

Another class of amine drugs includes proton pump inhibitors such as omeprazole, rabeprazole and lansoprazole, which are used to treat a form of acid reflux disease. Amine drugs also include compounds commonly used for pain relief, antidepressants, and amphetamines such as Novartis' Ritalin (methylphenidate), one of the drugs used to treat attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD).

Dermatrends​ said it is currently working with pharmaceutical partners to bring its technology to consumers.