New US Nano Centre to Develop Anti-Cancer Drugs

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University of Maryland’s Center for Nanomedicine and Rexahn Pharmaceuticals Announce Partnership to Develop Anti-Cancer Drugs and Central Nervous System Therapies

In a unique collaboration aimed at applying cutting edge nanotechnology to its product development, Rexahn Pharmaceuticals has partnered with the University of Maryland’s Center for Nanomedicine and Cellular Delivery to develop cancer-fighting drugs and central nervous system therapies.

With the new partnership, post-doctoral fellows will be selected to work at Rexahn’s Rockville, Md. headquarters under the mentorship of the Center’s faculty. The fellows will focus on finding novel ways of applying the Center’s research and nanomedicine expertise to improve the pharmaceutical properties of Rexahn’s drugs in development.

Of the collaboration, Dr. Chang Ahn, Chairman and CEO of Rexahn said, “The partnership with the University of Maryland will help expand our candidate pipeline and allow us to provide more targeted, efficient and potent therapies for patients. Both are key components of our business strategy.”

According to Natalie Eddington, PhD, chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and professor in the School of Pharmacy, “This academic-industrial partnership fosters an interdisciplinary approach to the development of effective chemotherapeutic agents. We are optimistic that this strategic collaboration will result in a long-term relationship between University of Maryland and Rexahn.”

Nanomedicine is an emerging field that integrates elements of medicine and nanotechnology, which involves the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules to manufacture materials at scales less than 100 nanometers, a few billionths of a meter. The Company plans to apply nanodelivery methods advanced through the partnership with the University of Maryland to drugs in its current and future pipelines.

“Targeted delivery enhances patients’ lives by improving drug efficacy and reducing toxic side effects,” said Hamid Ghandehari, PhD, associate professor and director of the Center. “It also diversifies the portfolio of companies such as Rexahn by prolonging the patent life of an existing drug entity or taking an otherwise ineffective or toxic drug to the market place where it can benefit the population. We are delighted to be a partner with Rexahn to help develop appropriate delivery systems for their discovered drugs,” notes Ghandehari.

“Drug delivery is a cornerstone in our strategic drug development. These technologies will allow for better-controlled drug release, drug targeting of diseased organs with cancer, or permitting better access to brain sites of action,” explained George Steinfels, PhD, Chief Business Office at Rexahn.

He continued, “We recognize the importance of drug delivery systems for cancer and CNS drugs, so this collaboration is just the beginning for us. Evaluation of new delivery technologies will be an ongoing process for Rexahn to ensure we merge the best technology with our drug candidates.”

The collaboration between Rexahn and the University of Maryland was further strengthened when Dr. Natalie Eddington and Hamid Ghandehari, PhD, were recently named to Rexahn’s Scientific Advisory Board.

Interested post-doctoral candidates should submit their resume to postdoc@rexhan.com.

Source: Rexahn Pharmaceuticals.

URL: http://www.rexahn.com/

This story was posted on 27 February 2006.