Download project to develop image-guided localized drug delivery technologies

Press Information
January 28, 2009
PHILIPS LEADS EUROPEAN ‘SONODRUGS’ PROJECT TO DEVELOP IMAGEGUIDED LOCALIZED DRUG DELIVERY TECHNOLOGIES
EUR 15.9 million project will seek to maximize therapeutic efficiency and minimize side
effects of treatments for cancer and cardiovascular disease
Eindhoven, the Netherlands - Royal Philips Electronics today announced that it is
leading a major new European project to develop drug delivery technologies that could
significantly impact the treatment of cancer and cardiovascular disease. By allowing
drugs to be delivered to disease sites via the patient’s bloodstream and then activated
by focused ultrasound pulses, the SonoDrugs project aims to maximize the therapeutic
efficiency and minimize the side effects of drug treatments for cancer and cardiovascular
disease. The project, which involves a total of fifteen industrial partners, university
medical centers and academic institutions from throughout the European Union (EU),
will run for four years and has a budget of EUR 15.9 million, EUR 10.9 million of which is
being funded under the EU’s 7th Framework program.
The SonoDrugs consortium consists of the industrial partners Philips (The Netherlands,
Germany and Finland), Nanobiotix (France) and Lipoid (Germany); the university
medical centers Erasmus Medical Center (The Netherlands) and Universitäts Klinikum
Münster (Germany); and the academic institutions University of Cyprus (Cyprus),
University of Gent (Belgium), University of Helsinki (Finland), University of London
(United Kingdom), University of Tours (France), University Victor Segalen Bordeaux
(France), University of Technology Eindhoven (The Netherlands) and the University of
Udine (Italy).
Cardiovascular disease and cancer are currently the two biggest killers in the world.
Although powerful drugs are available to treat certain types of cancer and cardiovascular
disease they are mostly administered as intravenous or oral doses. This allows only very
limited control over the distribution of drugs in the body, which can circulate in the
patient’s bloodstream and interact with many different tissues and organs, both diseased
and healthy. The SonoDrugs project aims to address this challenge by developing drug
delivery vehicles that can be tracked by ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) and triggered by ultrasound to release the drugs at the desired location. It is
hoped that such control of the drug delivery process will increase therapeutic efficiency
and minimize side effects, while also providing a means of tailoring the therapy to
individual patients.
“New therapeutic options such as externally triggered local drug release at the specific
site of disease hold the promise to significantly improve patient care,” says Henk van
Houten, senior vice president of Philips Research and head of Philips’ healthcare
research program. “We realize that medical imaging technologies are only one of the
enablers required to fulfill this promise. However, the wide-ranging expertise that has
been brought together in the SonoDrugs project puts us in a strong position to ultimately
deliver the benefits of image-guided drug delivery to patients and care providers.”
In attempting to realize its objective, the SonoDrugs project will take a two-pronged
approach: the first is based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guidance and the
second is based on ultrasound guidance. The project’s research on MRI-guided drug
delivery will largely be targeted at potential treatments for cancer. The SonoDrugs
project aims to develop MRI techniques to simultaneously image the patient’s anatomy,
detect the arrival of MRI-labeled drug-loaded particles at the disease site, measure the
local heating effect of the ultrasound pulses, and monitor the temperature triggered
release of drugs from the particles.
For potential applications in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, the project will
focus on the use of ultrasound as the primary imaging modality as well as the means of
releasing drugs from pressure sensitive microbubbles. Philips Research is at the
forefront of research into the drug delivery potential of microbubbles by adapting existing
microbubble technology so that microbubbles can deliver precise doses of drugs exactly
where they might be needed in the body.
For further information, please contact:
Steve Klink
Philips Research / Communications Department
Tel.: +31 40 27 43703
Mobile: +31 6 10888824
E-mail: [email protected]
About Royal Philips Electronics
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is a diversified
Health and Well-being company, focused on improving people’s lives through timely
innovations. As a world leader in healthcare, lifestyle and lighting, Philips integrates
technologies and design into people-centric solutions, based on fundamental customer
insights and the brand promise of “sense and simplicity”. Headquartered in the
Netherlands, Philips employs approximately 121,000 employees in more than 60
countries worldwide. With sales of EUR 26 billion in 2008, the company is a market
leader in cardiac care, acute care and home healthcare, energy efficient lighting
solutions and new lighting applications, as well as lifestyle products for personal wellbeing and pleasure with strong leadership positions in flat TV, male shaving and
grooming, portable entertainment and oral healthcare. News from Philips is located at
www.philips.com/newscenter.