Nitric Oxide
- Why Nitric Oxide?
- Nitric Oxide and the Vascular System
- Millimed's Nitric Oxide Advantage
Why Nitric Oxide?
NO is a simple molecule, naturally present as a gas in the atmosphere and produced widely in the human body to control normal human functions. As a free molecule, Nitric Oxide is difficult to control due to the extreme diffusion and reactivity. Presently, many companies have dedicated programs to understand better the applicability and function of Nitric Oxide in the progression and alleviation of diseases, such as respiratory syndromes, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, HIV and inflammation.
Over the past ten years, several technologies have been developed that allow the administration of Nitric Oxide systemically via the lungs, via infusion or metabolic dependent elution from devices. The NO inhalation technologies were originally designed for infant administration, which the pulmonary route provides a non-invasive alternative to parenteral delivery. In general, pulmonary NO delivery has the following advantages:
• Accelerated onset of action. The direct pulmonary route provides direct access to the systemic circulation, enabling onset of action in seconds to minutes rather than the longer time frames typical for oral dosage administration.
• Vaso dilatation. Inhalation is a non-invasive method to provide systemic drug administration.
• Increased efficacy. Inhalation delivery generates a greater peak effect compared to the slower delivery of equivalent drug doses in other delivery forms, potentially increasing the effective potency of some drugs.
• Improved bioavailability. Inhalation delivery avoids first-pass effect and gastrointestinal absorption, which is of particular value for drugs with poor oral bioavailability.
• Patient titration of dose. Rapid delivery using inhalation technologies can provide quick feedback to the patient as to whether a particular dose of drug is working, facilitating effective patient titration of the drug dose.
Nitric Oxide and the Vascular System
Nitric Oxide was first recognized as a key component in vascular biology in the 1980's. It was found to be involved in various biological pathways regulating vascular blood flow, coronary responsiveness and protection of the vascular systems towards stress and infections. The diffusion of NO through the vessel layers, if controlled, can be very beneficial. Nitric Oxide has been shown to be an effective agent to inhibit platelet aggregation (thrombus formation), inflammation (inhibiting the progressing disease state), neointimal formation and to restore endothelization. Nitric Oxide is therefore believed to be a potent candidate for the treatment of neointimal formation when used as a short term local agent in the vascular system.
Millimed's Nitric Oxide Advantage
The effective treatment of vascular disease and intermittent vascular complications will benefit from a local delivery of therapy. Our core technology platform enables less-invasive, rapid and efficient administration of molecular drugs and agents to the specific affected vascular area. Our drug eluting coating technology, based on spray-coating nano-spun fibers and/or biodegradable carriers, can be applied to countless vascular devices which can be designed to suit the specific clinical setting. This generates a precise delivery of various active agents. Our proprietary nano fiber carrier increases the drug elution surface area enormously, enabling an efficient and controlled bolus delivery of a specific molecule. Given that Nitric Oxide is a natural gas and diffusible molecule, it is difficult to control the exact release and action. It is believed that using our nano-fiber technology, the diffusible nitric oxide molecule can be controlled and delivered as desired, and thereby the patient condition can be improved through the rapid, specific site delivery of Nitric Oxide. |