Benefit

Technology Description

Many promising therapeutics, including peptides and poorly permeable small molecules, fail to achieve adequate oral bioavailability, limiting patient-friendly oral dosing options and increasing reliance on injectable formulations. Existing chemical permeation enhancers can improve drug absorption, but their poor manufacturability and formulation properties have restricted broader adoption in oral drug products. There remains a significant need for enabling technologies that improve oral drug absorption while supporting scalable pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Dr. Lewis Stevens and team at the University of Iowa are developing permeation enhancing cocrystals, a novel class of solid materials that combine established absorption enhancers with pharmaceutically acceptable coformers to improve manufacturability and drug delivery performance. Unlike conventional permeation enhancers, these cocrystals exhibit improved melting behavior, powder flow, and tablet compaction characteristics, addressing critical formulation and processing challenges. The technology expands the formulation space for oral drug products by enabling higher-performing dosage forms and reducing constraints imposed by weak, difficult-to-manufacture enhancer materials. By improving both absorption-enhancing functionality and pharmaceutical processability, this platform has the potential to unlock oral delivery opportunities for peptides and other poorly permeable drug candidates.

UIRF Case No. 2025-087

Stage of Development

Proof on concept studies completed.