Genetronics Receives Grant for Transdermal Delivery of Calcitonin

Genetronics Biomedical Ltd. (San Diego, CA) will receive a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant for $94,301 from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases for "electrically enhanced transdermal delivery of calcitonin," a technique involving electroporation and iontophoresis - electrically creating holes in cells. Genetronics has received more than $2 million in grants for its electroporation research to date, and is currently supported by SBIR grants totaling more than $700,000.

The goal of the company's present study is to establish the optimum combination of electrical parameters, such as voltage and electrical pulse length, to achieve effective concentrations of calcitonin with a noninvasive transdermal delivery system. The study will determine whether a small, hand-held device, possibly connected to a patch, can quickly and painlessly deliver calcitonin to treat Paget's disease, post-menopausal osteoporosis (PMO), and hypercalcemia.

Typically, calcitonin is delivered by injection, which often leads to patient non-compliance because of the pain or fear involved. The successful delivery of calcitonin could lead to the use of electroporation with other peptide hormones for treating growth and fertility disorders, diabetes, and cancer, as well as for inducing analgesia.

For more information: Lois Crandell, president & CEO, Genetronics Biomedical Ltd., Tel: 888-289-4363.