Monday, January 28, 2019
Q BioMed Inc., a biotechnology acceleration company, announced today that its technology partner, Mannin Research, has initiated a collaboration with McMaster University of Ontario, Canada. The collaboration is focused on ophthalmic drug delivery and formulation experiments for MAN-01, a first-in-class small molecule to treat Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma. Experiments will be conducted Dr. Heather Sheardown, a world renowned thought leader in ophthalmic biomaterials and drug delivery.
CEO of Mannin Research, Dr. George Nikopoulos stated, "This collaboration is extremely important for us and Q BioMed, as well as the MAN-01 program. The Sheardown lab at McMaster University specializes in ophthalmic delivery systems. As we approach our Phase I clinical trial, having the renowned expertise and experience of Dr. Sheardown and her team working with us on delivering our small molecule candidates to the eye is important to our success."
The main objective of the collaboration is to explore novel and better ways of delivering Mannin's small molecules to the eye to treat glaucoma. Using the formulation and drug delivery expertise of the Sheardown laboratory, the collaboration partners are focusing on increasing the compounds' ability to lower intra-ocular pressure to more effectively treat glaucoma.
Q BioMed CEO Denis Corin commented, "Through this collaboration, we are also exploring the use of extended and sustained release formulations with the Mannin compounds for the treatment of other vascular related diseases, such as acute kidney injury, influenza, and myocardial ischemia. We expect the ophthalmic drug delivery data from this collaboration will inform our planned Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the U.S. FDA."
