Quotient Clinical signs agreement with Nuformix to evaluate cocrystal formulations

Quotient Clinical announced that it has signed an agreement with Nuformix Technologies Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of Nuformix plc, ‘Nuformix’), to evaluate the clinical performance of Nuformix’ lead pharmaceutical cocrystal, NXP001, which is based on a currently marketed treatment in the field of oncology supportive care.

Pharmaceutical cocrystals are re-engineered crystalline forms of small molecule drugs, in which a drug and excipient are crystallised together. Resulting cocrystals can offer a number of performance improvements, such as solubility and dissolution of otherwise poorly soluble drugs. Under the terms of the agreement, Quotient will use its Translational Pharmaceutics^® platform to develop a formulated oral NXP001 cocrystal product and validate its performance in healthy subjects.

Translational Pharmaceutics integrates formulation development and real-time adaptive GMP manufacturing with clinical research to accelerate the screening and optimization of formulations — for both new chemical entities and life cycle management of existing drugs. In comparison to traditional outsourcing approaches, Translational Pharmaceutics halves drug product development timelines, reduces consumption of drug substance by 85%, and reduces development costs by more than £500,000.

John McDermott, Executive Director, Drug Product Optimisation, Quotient Clinical, said: “We are pleased to announce this new client agreement with Nuformix, whose cocrystal approach further broadens our experience in addressing bioavailability challenges for poorly soluble drugs. This program of work is an excellent illustration of how we can assist our emerging biopharma customers to rapidly validate novel drug delivery technologies and new product concepts.”

Dr Dan Gooding, CEO, Nuformix plc, said: “The appointment of Quotient was not a difficult decision as its Translational Pharmaceutics is perfectly suited to the needs of our NXP001 programme – we were very impressed with Quotient’s overall approach versus alternative options. We look forward to commencing the clinical study and also evaluating the platform’s potential for future Nuformix programmes.”