More than 20 years after the technology was discovered, Sequus Pharmaceuticals Inc. finally has convinced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that fat droplets can be used to deliver a drug.
The Menlo Park biotech company on Monday received FDA approval to market its Doxil drug for Kaposi's sarcoma, a cancerous condition that afflicts many AIDS patients. Although a number of other "liposome" drugs have been developed, Doxil was the first approved for sale in the United States.Tuesday, Liposome Co., based in Princeton, N.J., said it received FDA approval for a liposomal drug called Abelcet, used for certain fungal conditions that afflict AIDS patients and others with damaged immune systems.
Liposomes are fat globules long thought to be a promising transport device for pharmaceuticals. The idea is to put a drug inside the droplets so it can circulate longer in the body than if it were merely injected directly into the bloodstream.
Sequus Pharmaceuticals' strategy was to place a polymer known as PEG on the surface of the droplets to fool the immune system. Rather than clearing the body in a few hours, the new drug stays around for 50 to 55 hours. It also tends to be released mainly in cancerous areas - where it can do the most good without triggering side effects.