DelSiTech Awarded UnitaidExplore Funding for Innovations in Paediatric Healthcare

For development of novel delivery strategies for children's medicines

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Oct 04, 2021, 06:00 ET

TURKU, Finland, Oct. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- DelSiTech Ltd, the leader in silica based drug delivery technologies with its headquarters in Turku, Finland, and Unitaid, a global health initiative hosted by the World Health Organisation, announce the awarding of significant funding to DelSiTech over the next two years for development of novel delivery strategies for children as part of the UnitaidExplore program "Innovations in Paediatric Medicines Delivery".

The latest UnitaidExplore program is aimed at fostering a new generation of technologies for the delivery of medicines specifically targeted for use in paediatric patients. Children in low- and middle-income countries suffer significantly lower health outcomes compared to adults, a major challenge being the lack of paediatric specific formulations. Medicines may lack effective taste masking proving challenging to swallow when large doses are considered or may not be available in dose units appropriate for children needing treatment for HIV, malaria, tuberculosis or a host of other diseases.

Unitaid Director of Strategy Janet Ginnard said: "Innovations in medicine delivery that are specifically aimed at children are of utmost importance and we are delighted to announce funding to DelSiTech. These investments fit firmly with Unitaid's proven track record in facilitating access to the best medicines for the most vulnerable people. These innovations will help ensure that children can benefit from lifesaving treatment and have the best possible health outcomes."

In this program, DelSiTech will work to develop novel long-acting injectable formulations tailored specifically for treating children. DelSiTech's Silica Matrix technology aims to not only produce novel treatment alternatives for underserved patient population, but to also alleviate treatment burdens of frequent oral medicines and the social stigma often associated with them.

"Alliances with global health initiatives such as Unitaid are essential to us and to healthcare organisations around the world to enable the realisation of our common goal, securing real advancements in global health. DelSiTech is committed to pursuing long lasting strategic partnerships, enabling us to play a vital role in improving treatment outcomes, for clearly underserved children. We are thrilled to collaborate with Unitaid and are prepared to leverage the full extent of our technologies and expertise for paediatric solutions for patients, globally" said Dr. Lasse Leino, Chief Executive Officer at DelSiTech.

About DelSiTech

DelSiTech Ltd., located in Turku, Finland, is the leading technology specialist in biodegradable silica-based controlled release of small molecule drugs, biologics and viral vectors. It develops and commercializes its proprietary, drug delivery technology in collaboration with a number of pharma and biotech companies to turn their ideas into novel drug products. For more information, see www.delsitech.com.

About DelSiTech^TM Silica Matrix

Silica Matrix is an advanced delivery technology platform for parenteral and local administration of injectable and implant dosage forms as well as eye drops. The proprietary technology is based on silica (SiO2) matrix into which the molecule or therapeutic agent of interest is embedded using a process called sol-gel. The resulting Silica Matrix is non-porous, biocompatible and it can be designed to biodegrade by matrix dissolution at the desired rate to ensure a tightly controlled release of the active substance over periods of days up to many months or a year.

About Unitaid

Unitaid, is a Geneva based global health initiative working towards solutions for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of major disease in low- and middle-income countries, namely HIV, malaria and tuberculosis. As a part of Unitaid's core activities, UnitaidExplore represents a novel agile funding mechanism to incubate significant advancements in global health.

SOURCE DelSiTech