OPN-501: oral prodrug for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
OPN-501 is Opsona's oral prodrug for the treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases including Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease.
We have licensed this technology from the laboratories of Dr John Gilmer (Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Trinity College Dublin) and Professor Dermot Kelleher (School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin).
OPN-501 utilises an innovative drug-targeting technology that allows for site-specific delivery of the active drug to the colon, while suppressing absorption in the stomach and small intestine.
Oral delivery
Preclinical studies in a small animal model of disease show that OPN-501 is as effective as Prednisolone in reducing the severity of colitis, but reduces the side effects normally associated with oral delivery of the steroid.
This prodrug technology has the potential to deliver other drugs for colon-specific diseases. This offers Opsona and partners the opportunity to develop new oral versions of existing anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer drugs. We have successfully conjugated two other compounds to this delivery platform.
The ability to target the site of disease together with low systemic adsorption may make these compounds more tolerable. This could allow patients to stay longer on oral drugs which would otherwise have severe side effects.
Opsona is currently evaluating follow-on compounds as part of this platform technology and is actively looking for partnerships for this technology, either through sub-license of an individual product or in combination as platform chemistry with on-going collaborative support.
Read more about collaboration and partnering opportunities.