BioPharmX researchers were part of a national scientific team that developed an innovative way to use nonlinear optical imaging to confirm the efficiency and quantity of the delivery of new drugs.
A presentation at the 2017 Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference will show how researchers from BioPharmX and the Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School used a suite of imaging techniques in what is called "Pharmacokinetic Tomography" to confirm highly localized delivery of BPX-01, BioPharmX's unique topical, hydrophilic gel formulation of minocycline for the treatment of acne vulgaris, to the area of the skin where acne develops.
This is the first time this imaging approach was used to confirm substantial minocycline uptake in the epidermis and hair follicle, as well as in the sebaceous gland 24 hours after a single dose application.
The technique is a break with traditional drug development imaging processes that are costly and inefficient. The nonlinear optical imaging technique developed by this team enables the use of the natural fluorescence of the drug when "excited" with ultrashort (femtosecond) laser pulses. Drug developers traditionally rely on older technologies, such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy (MALDI), which tend to be slow and costly. This technique has allowed BioPharmX to capitalize its efforts in translational research, enabling it to take BPX-01 into clinic much more rapidly.
"We are excited to be applying these imaging tools in the study of pharmacokinetics," said Conor L. Evans, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School's Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. "They enable the visualization of drug delivery and distribution, and potentially permit the quantification of local drug concentration with subcellular resolution. Knowing the delivery kinetics and local concentrations of drugs may allow better understanding of toxicity and efficacy of drugs, making these imaging methods powerful tools for translational research."
BPX-011 is a hydrophilic (non-oil-based) topical gel with fully solubilized minocycline that has been shown to penetrate the skin to deliver the antibiotic to its target. Following positive results from its previously announced phase 2b study of BPX-01 in acne, BioPharmX continues with phase 3 clinical study plans for BPX-01 for the treatment of acne.