ISDIN and Advancell have received authorization from Germany's Federal Opium Agency (BfArM) to begin clinical trials in humans of a topical cyclosporin designed to treat moderate psoriasis. This is the first product to emerge from the collaborative agreement drawn up in 2006 by ISDIN and the biotech firm Advancell, which has its headquarters in the Barcelona Science Park. The aim of the agreement is to develop innovative medicines for the treatment of skin disorders.

This new drug constitutes an enormous step forward as until now this disease, which affects 125 million people worldwide and around one million in Spain alone, had to be treated with oral or injectable drugs. However, Advancell has developed a new technology, known as Dermosome Technology™ (DT) and based on the use of natural polymers, which enables cyclosporin to enter the body following topical administration. This avoids the harmful effects associated with oral administration and also increases the effectiveness of treatment.

The Dermosome Technology™ has been developed by Advancell following discoveries made in the field of nanomedicine by researchers at the University of Santiago de Compostela, and the company has acquired the rights to develop and commercialise the product. Advancell has two divisions: one known as Farma, which is geared toward the development of innovative drugs through research into new applications of known molecules; and another called Services and Reagents, which uses cell-based in vitro methods to predict the efficacy, safety and mechanism of action of molecules under development. Its business model is based on a method that enables considerable reductions to be made in terms of the costs, risks and time needed for drug development.

According to Advancell’s general manager, Luis Ruiz-Ávila, the start of clinical trials with cyclosporin DT once again demonstrates the viability of the firm’s business model and shows that the biomedical knowledge being generated by Spanish universities has enormous potential in terms of responding to needs as yet unmet by existing therapies, provided that the right choices are made when it comes to the model used for transfer and industrialization.