Public Funding for Nanomerics Ltd

Ocular allergies are widespread, affecting up to a fifth (20 %) of the world's population. Most patients will be helped by current medication available in the pharmacy. However, about 25 % of the sufferers have a more severe and chronic form of the condition (moderate to severe allergic conjunctivitis, MSAC) and are not effectively treated with these medicines. MSAC is a form of the disease which is debilitating and can be sight threatening. For these patients the only available type of therapy (corticosteroids) can only be used sparingly because of the side-effects which can ultimately lead to blindness. Therefore, there is a significant unmet medical need and an urgent necessity for the availability of safe, steroid-sparing treatment options. OC134 is a first in class topical aqueous eye drop formulation powered by Nanomerics proprietary Molecular Envelope Technology (MET) platform to deliver a known non-steroid drug with activity in the condition. MET has a dual functionality because it acts as non-irritant permeation enhancer: it increases the drug concentration at the disease site while avoiding systemic spill over into the blood stream, making OC134 a precision medicine. The compelling pre-clinical data show that OC134 results in more than a 5-10 fold increase of the drug levels in the target tissues of the eye when compared to traditional eye drops at the same strength. Another important property of the system is that these water-like eye drops do not cause irritation which is otherwise commonly observed. OC134 contains the world's first non-irritant ocular penetration enhancer. It is now important to demonstrate that these advantages can be translated into patients. The project will complete the first in-human clinical trial (Phase I) of OC134 to confirm the safety of both the product and the MET platform. Completion of the project paves the way to progression of OC134 to becoming a marketed product tackling a high level of unmet medical need. Furthermore, this project will unlock the potential of other MET enabled ocular products in our pipeline allowing us to target other pressing ocular conditions at minimal risk.

Cancer is an incurable disease. Every year there are about 370,000 new cancer cases and 165,000 cancer deaths in the UK. Globally, there are about 20 million new cancer diagnoses and ~10 million deaths every year. These numbers are predicted to rise as we are living longer. It is now estimated that 1 in 2 adults will develop cancer in their lifetime. The annual costs to the UK economy are estimated at £8 billion in lost productivity and earnings and additional £13 billion are spent by the NHS on cancer services per year. Current therapies are either highly invasive and/or offer comparatively low benefit; with poor cancer survival rates. We propose a new generation of precision medicine, building on sonodynamic therapy (SDT). SDT uses non-invasive ultrasound beam to activate molecules called sonosensitisers, which respond by killing cancer cells. However, while having solid concept foundations, in reality SDT is hampered by limited sonosensitiser accumulation in tumours, due to poor water solubility and degradation in liver when administered systemically. To overcome these limitations, we use our Molecular Envelope Technology (MET) delivery platform to encapsulate sonosensitisers in water-dispersible nanoparticles, protecting them from liver clearance and targeting to the tumour site. Our innovative strategy is to combine the two existing technologies, SDT and MET, to create a new game-changing therapeutic solution -- METSONOS -- that could harness the true potential of sonodynamic therapy in treatment of solid cancers and overcome the previous roadblocks to its clinical application. We will focus on treating triple negative breast cancer patients in the first instance, as an area of high unmet patient need. This project aims to demonstrate feasibility of METSONOS-enabled sonodynamic oncotherapy in terms of safety and efficacy in _in vivo_ rodent model. If successful, it will be progressed to clinical translation, and ultimately product commercialisation.

"Approximately 43% of people in the UK, or around 28 million adults experience pain, which is more than the combined total of those suffering with diabetes, heart disease and cancer. More adults aged 75 or over (62%) experienced pain than those aged 18 to 25 (14.3%) ([https://goo.gl/QvWaW5][0]). Back pain alone costs the NHS £12.3 billion per year; a serious and undertreated condition, uncontrolled pain costs the UK economy far more when considering healthcare expenses, lost income and lost productivity. Analgesics are the frontline therapy for the treatment of cancer pain; however, there has been a recent backlash against opioid-based painkillers, such as fentanyl, due to drug abuse and overdosing. At least 60 drugs deaths in the UK in the past eight months have been linked to fentanyl ([https://goo.gl/iVs1eG][1]). Alchemy Pharmatech is partnering with Nanomerics, specialists in pharmaceutical nanotechnology, to demonstrate feasibility of NaltosTM, a compact, discreet and inexpensive novel intranasal delivery system for quick onset delivery of dry powder-based medications. Successful project delivery will benefit Nanomerics by providing an effective nose-to-brain delivery system for their range of current and future pipeline drugs, thereby enhancing their competitive advantage and increasing revenue and thus, propel both companies in their aim to attract additional funding to develop further products. [0]: https://goo.gl/QvWaW5 [1]: https://goo.gl/iVs1eG"

An estimated 70 - 105 million Americans and around 20% of European adults suffer from severe chronic pain caused by non-malignant (e.g., HIV, post-herpetic or diabetic neuropathy, arthritis and lower back pain) and malignant (70%-90% of advanced cancer cases) conditions. Current therapies are inadequate in 75% of cases of chronic non-malignant pain and cause side effects in 80% of opioid treated patients; side effects include constipation, nausea, breathing problems addiction and accidental overdose. In 2006, 250,000 US patients required emergency hospital admission for pain drug related complications. We have developed a new nanomedicine based pain drug which is effective in animal studies and works when taken by mouth or by injection. As we are targeting a different receptor to conventional pain drugs, the drug is predicted to have fewer side effects. The compound we are developing does not work without it being put in nanoparticles.

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