News Article

Delpor Awarded $340K NIH Grant for 3-month Long Acting Risperidone Product in order to Improve Medication Adherence in Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder
Date: Jun 20, 2012
Author: press release
Source: Company Data ( click here to go to the source)

Featured firm in this article: Delpor Inc of San Francisco, CA



SAN FRANCISCO, CA, June 20, 2012 --Delpor, Inc. (Delpor), a biotechnology company focused on drug delivery, today announced the awarding of a $340K grant from the National Institute of Mental Health for the further advancement of the company's 3-month risperidone product (DLP-114). The product is based on Delpor's Prozor™ technology and is expected to deliver therapeutic levels of risperidone for a period of at least 3 months in order to improve medication adherence.

"We are honored to receive this grant award and extremely grateful to the National Institute of Mental Health for believing in our vision." said Tassos Nicolaou, President and CEO of Delpor. "We look forward to employing these new funds to further develop our risperidone program which is expected to offer tremendous treatment benefits to patients suffering from schizophrenia or bipolar disorder."

Lack of medication adherence is one of the most frequently cited unmet needs in the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and it is a major reason that neuroleptic drugs are not more effective in keeping people with schizophrenia out of the hospital. It is estimated that lack of medication adherence accounts for approximately 40% of all relapse. With each successive relapse, the patient's long-term prognosis deteriorates and previous level of functioning is rarely achieved. Current long acting systems have shown some improvement, but also have certain limitations.

Tassos Nicolaou continued: "DLP-114 is expected to overcome several limitations of the current depot injections. More specifically, the system is expected to further improve medication adherence by extending the release from a couple of weeks to several months, offer full reversibility in case the patient has a treatment related adverse event, and reduce side effects by providing a consistent and superior pharmacokinetic profile." Mr. Nicolaou concluded by saying: "This is not just about improving medication adherence. It is about addressing an important unmet medical need and improving clinical outcomes for patients suffering from a chronic and disabling brain disorder."

About Delpor, Inc.
Delpor develops the next generation Drug Delivery Systems that improve the clinical and commercial value of drugs and biopharmaceuticals. The company's technologies enable the sustained release of drugs through a small non-mechanical subcutaneous implant device. The device is implanted during a 10 minute, simple, in-office, procedure using local anesthetic and without the need for any surgical sutures. Delpor's device can deliver small & large molecules within a predefined therapeutic window over several months while maintaining zero-order release pharmacokinetics. Delpor is focusing on the delivery of antipsychotics (in order to improve medication adherence, tolerance, and safety) as well as biologics in order to improve patient safety and convenience. The company's lead products include 3-month formulations of Risperidone, Paliperidone, and Interferon-alpha. Additional information about the company can be found at www.delpor.com.

About DLP-114
Delpor's DLP-114 is a small titanium reservoir designed for subcutaneous implantation and loaded with a proprietary formulation of risperidone. The product is designed to provide a constant therapeutic dose of risperidone each day for a total period of 3-6 months. Additional features include reversibility, immediate onset of action, and no accumulation.

Forward-Looking Statements
To the extent any statements made in this release contain information that is not historical, these statements are essentially forward-looking and are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the difficulty of predicting FDA approvals, acceptance and demand for new pharmaceutical products, the impact of competitive products and pricing, new product development and launch, reliance on key strategic alliances, availability of raw materials, availability of additional intellectual property rights, availability of future financing sources, the regulatory environment and other risks the Company may identify from time to time in the future.

Contacts
Delpor, Inc.
Tassos Nicolaou, President and CEO
Phone: 415-480-6873
Fax: 415-480-6871