The UK-based company has developed two new gels which achieve up to three-times faster drug penetration rate and therefore faster onset of action, and up to 48 hours sustained impact from a single application when administered through the skin using Nemaura’s proprietary delivery system Memspatch®.
Musculoskeletal pain alleviation and management is crucial for the 10 million people in the UK living with some form of arthritis. According to Arthritis Research UK, arthritis will cost the economy £3.43 billion in lost working days by 2030, with the problem set to worsen as the population ages.
Nemaura’s focus on developing a more efficient and cost-effective pain-relieving system has the potential to significantly contribute to the fast-growing non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) global market valued in 2015 at $12bn per year.
The new gels were developed over a period of 18 months, by Nemaura comparing the efficacy of commonly-used NSAIDs diclofenac and Ibuprofen gels with its innovative Memspatch® drug delivery technology. Oral and parenteral formats of both these NSAIDs have recognised pharmacokinetic drawbacks leaving skin based drug delivery as a more attractive format. However, age-related thickening of the skin can lead to a poor rate of gel absorption and the tendency for some patients to over-medicate.
The Memspatch® is expected to overcome these limitations given it provides for a rapid or controlled slow delivery of drug formulations, with users requiring little training, making self-medication easy and relatively pain free.
Commenting on the study results, Nemaura CEO Dr Faz Chowdhury said: “Our goal is to improve the life experience of anyone affected by pain. We are excited by our progress, as these results bring a new product closer to market. In the past six months we have grown our team of device technologists, chemists, and scientists to 35, and plan for further expansion in 2018 on the back of these promising results.”
Nemaura’s versatile proprietary gel formulations and delivery technologies can be used with a large number of established medications to provide either a rapid or controlled slow delivery of drug formulations.
In 2016, Nemaura received the Frost & Sullivan Global recognition of its advanced capability in skin drug delivery. With patents secured or pending in multiple countries across numerous patent families, Nemaura aims to be one of the leading pharmaceutical technologists in this fast-growing market, which is expected to be worth £33billion by 2018.