iCo Therapeutics Oral Amphotericin B Published in Leading Journal
February 18, 2009
VANCOUVER, Canada— iCo Therapeutics Inc. (TSX-V: ICO) is pleased to announce that a manuscript discussing iCo’s oral Amphotericin B (AmpB) formulation (“iCo-009”) has been published in a leading journal, the “International Journal of Pharmaceutics”. The paper illustrates iCo-009’s pronounced anti-fungal activity against Aspergillus fumigatus or Candida albicans, two potentially lethal fungal infections.
The publication is titled “Development and characterization of oral lipid-based Amphotericin B formulations with enhanced drug solubility, stability and antifungal activity in rats infected with Aspergillus fumigatus or Candida albicans”.
Publication highlights: Treatment with iCo-009 significantly decreased total fungal colony forming unit (“CFU”) concentrations recovered in all the organs added together by >80% compared to non-treated controls, without significant changes in plasma creatinine levels in the Aspergillus fumigatus infected rats. CFU concentrations are important measures of the magnitude of fungal infection. Plasma creatinine levels are critical to understanding renal function, a key concern with some existing Amphotericin B intravenous formulations.
In addition, iCo-009 significantly decreased kidney fungal CFU concentrations by >75% at the 5 mg/kg dose and by >95% at the 10 mg/kg dose compared to non-treated controls without significant changes in the plasma creatinine levels in the Candida albicans-infected rats.
“To have iCo-009 once again highlighted in a leading peer-reviewed journal provides further validation of the potential of iCo-009,” stated Andrew Rae, President & CEO of iCo Therapeutics. “These are two important fungal models that lend us increasing confidence in the future success of the program.”
Reference:
Wasan, E.K., et al., Development and characterization of oral lipid-based Amphotericin B formulations with enhanced drug solubility, stability and antifungal activity in rats infected with Aspergillus fumigatus or Candida albicans. Int J Pharm (2009), doi:10.1016/j.ijpharm.2009.01.003. The paper is currently in press and is available online through the International Journal of Pharmaceutics’ website.
