Chondroitin sulfate

“CPHI is always a fantastic opportunity to connect with customers – new and old – but the excitement has been taken up a notch this year as we welcome key stakeholders from across the global pharmaceutical landscape to our hometown, Barcelona,” said Luis Solera, CEO at Bioiberica. The life science company says it is committed to ‘improving the health and well-being of people, animals and plants’ and is excited to participate in the event. It will be showcasing its investment in scientific research, sustainable development and strategic partnerships for a more resilient future, it says. Alongside its active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) portfolio, the company will present the latest research for its mobility, digestive and skin health branded ingredients. Attendees will also have the opportunity to explore Bioiberica’s newfound focus on advanced wound care which is describes as ‘a captivating area of research in the medical nutrition arena’. Also under the spotlight for the first time, Bioiberica will share scientific data set to unlock a new world of co-innovation possibilities. Essential APIs The company will exhibit its essential APIs ​ – chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine for the symptomatic treatment of osteoarthritis, thyroid for endocrinology and its flagship ingredient, Heparin. Visitors to the company’s stand will get the chance to see the latest research supporting the efficacy of its branded ingredients – Collavant n2 (native (undenatured) type 2 collagen), Mobilee (hyaluronic acid matrix ingredient) for joint health and mobility, Dermial (hyaluronic acid matrix ingredient) for skin health and DAOgest (diamine oxidase enzyme) for histamine intolerance. googletag.cmd.push(function () { googletag.display('text-ad1'); }); With sustainability top of the agenda for the pharmaceutical industry, Bioiberica will highlight the potential of its latest sustainability initiatives and how they’re helping to enhance its customers’ green credentials in the face of mounting pressures. Climate neutrality Attendees can connect with Bioiberica’s experts to learn more about its circular bioeconomy model, targets to obtain 100% renewable electricity by 2024 and 30% less GHG emissions by 2030, and ambitious plans to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Solera added: “Progression in the healthcare space hinges on three key pillars: science, sustainability and strategic partnership. CPHI offers us a platform to highlight the substantial strides we’ve made to strengthen these foundations and showcase how we’re supporting our customers in addressing some of the most pressing challenges facing the pharmaceutical industry. Visitors are warmly invited to our booth where we look forward to fostering innovative ideas together.” Meet Bioiberica at CPHI on stand 7P20 to learn more about the company's APIs and ingredients for human health.

Researchers have designed cancer-fighting nanoparticles that co-deliver a chemotherapy drug and a novel immunotherapy, according to a new study. University of Pittsburgh researchers have designed cancer-fighting nanoparticles that co-deliver a chemotherapy drug and a novel immunotherapy, according to a new Nature Nanotechnologystudy published today. The new immunotherapy approach silences a gene that the researchers discovered was involved in immunosuppression. When combined with an existing chemotherapy drug and packaged into tiny nanoparticles, the therapy shrunk tumors in mouse models of colon and pancreatic cancer. "There are two innovative aspects of our study: the discovery of a new therapeutic target and a new nanocarrier that is very effective in selective delivery of immunotherapy and chemotherapeutic drugs," said senior author Song Li, M.D., Ph.D., professor of pharmaceutical sciences in the Pitt School of Pharmacy and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center investigator. "I'm excited about this research because it's highly translational. We don't know yet whether our approach works in patients, but our findings suggest that there is a lot of potential." Chemotherapy is a pillar of cancer treatment, but residual cancer cells can persist and cause tumor relapse. This process involves a lipid called phosphatidylserine (PS), which is usually found inside the tumor cell membrane's inner layer but migrates to the cell surface in response to chemotherapy drugs. On the surface, PS acts as an immunosuppressant, protecting remaining cancer cells from the immune system. The Pitt researchers found that treatment with chemotherapy drugs fluorouracil and oxoplatin (FuOXP) led to increased levels of Xkr8, a protein that controls distribution of PS on the cell membrane. This finding suggested that blocking Xkr8 would prevent cancer cells from shunting PS to the cell surface, allowing immune cells to mop up cancer cells that lingered after chemotherapy. In an independent study that was recently published in Cell Reports, Yi-Nan Gong, Ph.D., assistant professor of immunology at Pitt, also identified Xkr8 as a novel therapeutic target to boost anti-tumor immune response. Li and his team designed snippets of genetic code called short interference RNA (siRNA), which shuts down production of specific proteins -- in this case, Xkr8. After packaging siRNA and FuOXP together into dual-action nanoparticles, the next step was targeting them to tumors. Nanoparticles are typically too large to cross intact blood vessels in healthy tissue, but they can reach cancer cells because tumors sometimes have poorly developed vessels with holes that allow them passage. But this tumor-targeting approach is limited because many human tumors do not have large enough holes for nanoparticles to pass through. "Like a ferry carrying people from one side of the river to the other, we wanted to develop a mechanism that allows nanoparticles to cross intact blood vessels without relying on holes," said Li. To develop such a ferry, the researchers decorated the surface of the nanoparticles with chondroitin sulfate and PEG. These compounds help the nanoparticles target tumors and avoid healthy tissue by binding to cell receptors common on both tumor blood vessels and tumor cells and prolonging the length of time they remain in the bloodstream. When injected into mice, about 10% of the nanoparticles made their way to their tumor -- a significant improvement over most other nanocarrier platforms. A previous analysis of published research found that, on average, only 0.7% of nanoparticle doses reach their target. The dual-action nanoparticles dramatically reduced the migration of immunosuppressing PS to the cell surface compared to nanoparticles containing the chemodrug FuOXP alone. Next, the researchers tested their platform in mouse models of colon and pancreatic cancer. Animals treated with nanoparticles containing both FuOXP and siRNA had better tumor microenvironments with more cancer-fighting T cells and fewer immunosuppressive regulatory T cells than animals that received placebo or FuOXP doses. As a result, mice that received the siRNA-FuOXP nanoparticles showed a dramatic decrease in tumor size compared to animals that received those carrying just one therapy. According to Li, the study also pointed to the potential of combining the FuOXP-siRNA nanoparticles with another type of immunotherapy called checkpoint inhibitors. Immune checkpoints such as PD-1 act like brakes on the immune system, but checkpoint inhibitors work to release the brakes and help immune cells to fight cancer. The researchers found that FuOXP nanoparticles with or without siRNA increased PD-1 expression. But when they added a PD-1 inhibitor drug, the combination therapy had drastic improvements in tumor growth and survival in mice. With their sights set on translating their novel therapy to the clinic, the team is now looking to validate their findings with additional experiments and further evaluate potential side effects. Other researchers who contributed to this study were Yuang Chen, M.S., Yixian Huang, Ph.D., Qinzhe Li, M.S., Zhangyi Luo, B.S., Ziqian Zhang, M.S., Haozhe Huang, M.S., Jingjing Sun, Ph.D., LinXinTian Zhang, B.S., Runzi Sun, Ph.D., Daniel J. Bain, Ph.D., James F. Conway, Ph.D., and Binfeng Lu, Ph.D., all of Pitt or UPMC. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (R01CA219399, R01CA223788 and R01CA219716).