Inyx and BioProgress form strategic collaboration

Inyx Pharma Ltd, the UK-based subsidiary of US speciality pharma company Inyx, Inc., which focuses on niche drug delivery technologies and products, has entered into a strategic collaboration with BioProgress, an innovative pharma and healthcare company based in Cambridge, England.

Under the collaboration, Inyx will provide assistance to broadly commercialise BioProgress' TABWRAP technology, a patented, high-speed continuous process for delivering tablets or caplets in an ingestible or edible film sheet. It handles a wide range of tablet sizes and shapes and treats them individually, making it an ideal solution for fragile tablet formulations. TABWRAP also eliminates the familiar problems of tablet clumping, picking and sticking.

The technology uses XGEL films, the basis of BioProgress' intellectual property. All film formulations are non-animal derived and tailored to provide specific product release rates or stability requirements. The films may be opaque, coloured, printed, flavoured and contain actives and can have a high-gloss appearance. Single or multiple colour tablets can be produced economically by varying the film properties.

The skin-tight coating adopts any underlying tablet embossing, and a tamper-evident seal is generated that helps protect the tablet core, often improving product stability. TABWRAP is a dry process, so additional drying operations are unnecessary. Production speeds in excess of 100,000 tablets per hour are possible.

'Inyx has a long history of assisting companies and innovative pharmaceutical technologies with the required regulatory approvals on production processes and controls,' said Richard Trevillion, ceo of BioProgress. 'We are confident that BioProgress will be able to accelerate its own development plan during 2007 through this strategic alliance with Inyx.'