A small dose

Process For Water To Absorb Oil Could Pave New Way For Cbd And Drug Delivery

Water and oil don’t mix, right? It’s one of the first lessons you learn in science classes at school.

A new technique, developed by a team of UK researchers from Aston University for Max Bio+, means we will have to rethink this truism.

The Max Bio+ technology enables oil to be dissolved in water. It doesn’t just mix the two together, it makes oil soluble in water, which could be a gamechanger for the medical industry.

Max Bio+ was founded by Professor Shah, professor consultant ophthalmologist, Professor Aston University, and philanthropist Sean Ngu.

The team started by looking at eye drops as there was evidence that the anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anaesthetic and analgesic properties of cannabidiol (CBD) could help patients with dry eyes. The question was how to get the CBD delivered to the eye when dropping oil in the eye clearly wasn’t a good option.

It was while creating the eye drops that the team discovered a new way of creating a soluble CBD product by making the oil completely soluble in water. Perfect for eye drops – and a wide range of other applications.

Max Bio+’s resulting CBD liquid is 25,000 times more soluble than standard CBD, and laboratory testing has indicated that Max Bio+’s technique makes CBD much easier for the body to absorb.

For now, the team is focusing mainly on working with CBD oil, but the technique works just as well with any oil-based product, opening the door for a range of new products and breakthroughs in the future. For example, the team is also looking at the delivery of insulin for diabetics.

The research has primarily been performed within the Aston University Pharmacy Department in Birmingham, UK. Thus, it has been tested to UK pharmaceutical levels, which is higher than required for CBD products.

Max Bio+ uses its proprietary technique to create a clear, tasteless, odourless product manufactured without alcohol, surfactants or heat. This clear CBD liquid can then form the basis for a variety of products from drinks to drug delivery.

The liquid can also be freeze-dried to create a powder making transport easier and further opening up the range of potential applications.

“This breakthrough in mixing oil and water is a genuine gamechanger. Just imagine how it can change the health industry by allowing the oral delivery of many drugs that currently have to be injected. Insulin is a prime example. This could spell the end of painful injections for thousands of diabetics,” said Professor Shah.

Four Pharma Companies Team Up To Reduce Environmental Burden In Pharma Packaging

Astellas Pharma, Eisai, Daiichi Sankyo Company, and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company aim to promote the use of more environmentally friendly packaging for pharmaceutical products, by sharing knowledge on packaging technologies to reduce environmental burden. One example being blister packs made of biomass-based plastic instead of petroleum-derived plastic, compact packaging, recycled packaging materials, and recyclable packaging materials.

The four companies aim to ensure that society benefits from this collaboration to harmonise corporate activities with the global environment. In the future, they expect to expand this collaboration beyond the four companies by calling on other companies to reduce further environmental burden.

Astellas has set “Deepen our engagement in

Clinical trials pla orm

Ascension-Q lands

£250,000 round

Ascension-Q, the clinical research operating system, has secured £250,000 in a pre-seed round led by early-stage focused venture capital firm, Jenson Funding Partners. The funding will be used by the start-up to continue its mission of enabling as many hospitals and clinics as possible in the UK and Ireland to conduct clinical trials.

In the clinical research drug trials space, the goal is the continued development of new drugs to improve patient care and treatment options. But the work required is complex, since research teams at the ground level often lack the support required to deliver diligent research. This leads to delays and difficulties in recruiting and retaining patients to participate in the trials. Historically, the drug design process has operated in a top-down approach, the company says, where the decisionmaking of Contract Research Organisations (CROs) primarily focuses on working with pharmaceutical companies. Rather than site-first, this approach risks shortcuts and pain points in the research process that are often ignored. sustainability” as one of the strategic goals in its Corporate Strategic Plan 2021. The reduction of environmental burden is one of Astellas’ priority themes within sustainability.

Eisai established the “Eisai Environmental Management Vision” this fiscal year, in addition to climate change countermeasures aimed at achieving carbon neutrality by fiscal 2040, and has formed a medium- to long-term plan for environmental issues - including efficient use of water and recycling of resources.

As a healthcare company with the purpose to “contribute to the enrichment of quality of life around the world,” Daiichi Sankyo considers global environmental conservation, which is the basis of life and livelihood, as a key management issue (Materiality) and promotes environmental management.

At Takeda, “Purpose-led Sustainability” is about creating both business and societal value through its core business. Takeda continues to reduce its operational carbon footprint and are now committed to achieving net-zero GHG emissions for scopes 1 and 2 before 2035 and for scope 3 before 2040.

Medical-grade fridge supplier, CoolMed featured in 2023 Startups Index

It’s no secret that the UK healthcare industry is under signifi cant strain. Understaffi ng and underfunding have put a fi nancial strain on the NHS, while an ageing population means that health and social care services have never been more in demand.

Launched in 2020 by Dr. Amitava Ganguli, Ash Mahmud, and Professor Richard FitzGerald, Ascension-Q sought to change that by creating a platform that helps researchers and operational staff carry out their work more efficiently, in turn improving both the user and patient experience. Its cloudbased platform can be tailored according to site needs and provides real-time metrics on study participants. It also allows for the design and management of studies with multiple cohorts and across multiple sites.

In one hospital that barely conducted research, Ascension-Q was introduced nearly 18 months ago. The hospital has since run six research programmes and is now engaged in its seventh. The use of the platform in that time has enabled the hospital to generate nearly £2m a year.

Ascension-Q is now being used in 16 hospitals and has been utilised during 70 clinical trials, while reaching 5,000 patients on the platform. The company aims to triple the number of hospitals using the platform over the next year, with its sights set on the European market and later the US by 2024.

Dr. Amitava Ganguli, founder and CEO at Ascension-Q, said: “We are delighted in raising investment from Jenson Funding Partners and continuing our incredible journey with their support.

AscensionQ was created to tackle the everyday challenges researchers face through automation in one platform, connecting people and not just processes. 2022 was great validation of our system, and for 2023 we are excited to push on and help the thousands of research clinics in the UK and beyond.”

CoolMed has been supporting the healthcare sector since 2017 by manufacturing and supplying medicalgrade fridges at exceptionally low prices – something the Startups Index recognised and were ‘wowed’ by.

The Startups Index also commented on CoolMed’s design strategy, through which they’ve provided real added value to big-name partners such as Lloyds Pharmacy and American pharmaceutical distributor, McKesson.

CoolMed’s commitment to sustainability and CSR was also commented on, with the judging panel stating: “CoolMed has gone two steps further than its market competitors” due to their charity partnerships with Earthly and Cool Earth.

Stephen Johnson, CoolMed CEO, stated: “We look forward to continuing to support the UK’s healthcare industry, as well as healthcare services further afi eld.”