Joint research of University of Hyderabad (UoH), the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) and IKP Knowledge Park has culminated in the successful completion of a pre-clinical study on the anti-cancer drug ‘Temozolomide’.
Temozolomide is the only drug approved for brain tumour treatment.
The stability of this otherwise potent chemotherapy is compromised due to degradation in storage and shelf-handling, causing dark brown discolouration of the drug powder.
The group led by Ashwini Nangia, professor at UoH’s School of Chemistry, developed a stable pharmaceutical co-crystal of Temozolomide that overcomes discolouration to give a stable, improved crystalline form of the drug.
In collaboration with an NIN team of Dinesh Kumar, coordinator of Preclinical Toxicology at the institute, the group from UoH tested the stable Temozolomide co-crystal with the reference drug in animal models to establish bioequivalence and bioavailability and drug transport.
Temozolomide co-crystal is 100-110 per cent effective compared to the parent drug.
Pharmacokinetic parameters, haematology, drug metabolism and half-life for the stable Temozolomide co-crystal are equal to or better than the pure drug.
The project is a success story of the Knowledge-to-Equity programme of the Ministry of Science and Technology.
This project was part-funded by Department of Biotechnology to Crystalin Research, a start-up R&D venture founded by Dr. Nangia in 2010 at the Technology Business Incubator on the UoH campus.
