Cross-metathesized cellulose excipient for drug
This technology uses a chemical reaction called olefin cross-metathesis to attach new functional groups onto the backbone of polysaccharides — natural carbohydrate polymers like cellulose. By starting with a cellulose that has been given reactive olefin 'handles,' chemists can use a commercially available ruthenium catalyst to graft on acid or other functional end-groups under mild conditions, producing novel cellulose derivatives with precisely tunable chemistry. The resulting materials are designed to control how and where a drug dissolves and is absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. This gives drug formulators a new class of polymer excipients capable of sustaining drug supersaturation, improving bioavailability, and enabling controlled-release coatings.
What you could build
A specialty cellulose-derivative excipient sold to pharmaceutical companies for use in amorphous solid dispersion or controlled-release tablet formulations; buyers would be generic and branded pharmaceutical manufacturers and their contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs).
Who in Virginia should care
Contract drug manufacturers or pharma excipient suppliers operating in Virginia, as well as Virginia-based biotech startups developing oral drug delivery platforms, would be natural licensees or development partners.
Readiness: Lab validated
Concept — described but not yet demonstrated. Lab validated — supported by experimental results in the patent. Prototype likely — the text describes a built, working embodiment.
Readiness is inferred from the patent text, not from a lab visit.
The record
- Inventors
- Kevin J. Edgar, Xiangtao Meng, John Matson
- Granted
- August 11, 2020
- Status
- Granted patent
- Patent number
- 10738134
Ready to talk?
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties handles licensing for this technology.
Prosim summaries are generated from public patent text and are not legal advice.