Bend Research Receives Patent for Preparing Spray-Dried Drug Dispersions Using Pressure Nozzles


Spray-Drying Process Enables Delivery of Low-Solubility Drugs

BEND, Ore., Aug. 30 - Bend Research Inc. (www.bendres.com), a leading independent drug-formulation development and manufacturing company, announced today that it has received a new U.S. patent covering a process for making spray-dried solid amorphous dispersions of drugs using pressure nozzles.

The patent, which adds further protection to the company's spray-dried dispersion (SDD) technology, can be used to make solid amorphous dispersions with larger particle sizes and minimal fines (e.g., small particles). By spray-drying with a pressure nozzle, relatively large droplets are formed that dry to form dense particles with good properties for making solid dosage forms, such as tablets.

"This patent is an important addition to our spray-drying patent portfolio," said Bend Research President and CEO Rod Ray. "Customers come to Bend Research for the quality of our science, engineering, and clinical-supply manufacture, and our ability to move fast. Having patents that protect intellectual property offers them another key benefit by adding value to the formulations our scientists and engineers produce."

The patent, which is titled "Method for Making Homogeneous Spray-Dried Solid Amorphous Drug Dispersions Using Pressure Nozzles," was assigned Patent No. 7,780,988 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The inventors are Bend Research employees Ron Beyerinck, Rod Ray, Dan Dobry, and Dana Settell.

The patent covers a spray-drying process for producing solid amorphous dispersions from drugs with low aqueous solubility and polymers. In many cases, the resulting formulations increase the amount of drug that is orally absorbed when administered to a patient.

The patent addresses a common problem encountered using conventional spray-drying processes: they often produce small particles, including numerous very small particles known as "fines." As a result, solid amorphous dispersions produced using conventional processes often have poor flow characteristics and are difficult to collect efficiently and formulate into solid dosage forms. The technology covered by this patent makes it possible to produce larger particles with fewer fines, improving particle flow characteristics and collection efficiencies and simplifying downstream handling and processing.

The patent is one in a growing of number of formulation- and process-related patents associated with Bend Research's SDD technology. The SDD technology has successfully enabled the advancement of hundreds of compounds from preclinical studies to several large Phase 3 clinical trials.

About Bend Research Inc.

For more than 30 years, Bend Research has worked with clients to create value by advancing new medicines and to solve their most difficult scientific and technical problems. This success is based on the company's ability to develop, advance, and commercialize pharmaceutical technologies. The firm's innovative drug-delivery solutions grow from a solid base of scientific and engineering fundamental understanding.

Bend Research provides formulation and dosage-form support, assists in process development and optimization, manufactures clinical-trial quantities of drug candidates in its cGMP facility, and advances promising drug candidates from conception through commercialization. In addition to SDDs and other solubilization technologies such as hot-melt extrusion, Bend Research is a leader in novel formulations and controlled-release technologies.

Bend Research has more than 175 employees based in four state-of-the-art facilities in Bend, Oregon, USA.

For more information about Bend Research and its formulation and manufacturing capabilities, please contact Dana Settell via email at Dana.Settell@bendres.com or phone at 541-382-4100.

Source: Bend Research Inc.

CONTACT:

Dana Settell,

Bend Research Inc.,

+1-541-382-4100,

Dana.Settell@bendres.com

Web Site: http://www.bendres.com/

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