Text Box: Ligand-Activated Technology (LAT) KemPharm’s unique and proprietary LAT technology takes already approved drugs in their respective treatment areas that possess undesirable side-effects and modifies the active compound into a new therapy through ligation.  Ligation consists of attaching a removable substituent, called a ligand, to the parent compound.  Once administered, the metabolic processes of the human body activate the new therapy back into the parent drug (see figure below).  Depending on the ligand used, different metabolic pathways can be targeted or different tissues excluded from the site of activation, thus allowing the new therapy to be as effective as the original with an improved safety profile.   Figure: LAT Technology               KemPharm has developed an extensive library of non-toxic ligands to attach to a number of drugs.  These ligands have typically demonstrated either a non-toxic profile in cell assays or they have achieved GRAS (Generally Regarded as Safe) status by the FDA.   This above graph illustrates KemPharm’s LAT technology in action for the treatment of ADHD. The key feature of this technology is its ability to vary the ligand to allow modification of the release profile. The use of non-toxic ligands and effective drugs to create new therapies has a number of developmental and clinical advantages over novel drugs and the original parent drugs.  Keeping in mind that the FDA considers an approval based on safety and efficacy, those advantages include:   · Known preclinical, non-clinical and clinical pathways for the parent drug allow many activities to proceed in parallel including many clinical studies.   · Known effective doses shorten clinical studies and speed up formulation development.   · Improved safety of new therapy addresses FDA concerns.   · Parent drug and ligand are commercially available thus allowing for competitive pricing with higher returns.   · Non-toxic ligand needs minimal further investigation.   · Older studies and new studies can be linked to speed up all aspects of development.

Home | Contact us
Text Box: Technology Text Box:

► Kempharm.com > Technology

Proven Medicines … Safer Therapies

KemPharm, Inc.

© 2008 KemPharm, Inc.

LAT technology can be applied across various drug markets.

 

For more information visit our market section.