Vitranu develops Tunable Extended-Release Capsule (TERC™) technology for the sustained delivery of therapeutics, specifically designed to reduce the frequency of eye injections for patients with wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration (wAMD). This technology enables a controlled release of biologic therapeutics, potentially decreasing the need for injections from up to 12 times a year to just 2 or fewer.
Funding
$1.5M raised to dateRaised to date based on public sources. This may differ from the amount the company actually raised and is based only on what is publicly available on the internet.
Founders
Product
Problem
Patients with wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration (wAMD) require frequent intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF drugs, often up to monthly, to prevent vision loss. Maintaining this intensive treatment schedule poses a significant burden for patients, leading to suboptimal real-world outcomes compared to clinical trial results. The need for longer-lasting therapies in wAMD is a critical unmet need.
Solution
Vitranu is developing Tunable Extended-Release Capsule (TERC™) technology, a novel approach to sustained ophthalmic drug delivery. TERC™ is designed to reduce the frequency of eye injections for wAMD patients, potentially decreasing the number of injections needed to two or fewer per year. The capsule, manufactured with biodegradable polymers, provides a protective environment for biologic therapeutics, allowing for the controlled release of unaltered drugs like bevacizumab. By tuning the porosity of the capsule wall through a novel electrospinning process, the drug elution profile can be customized to achieve the desired release kinetics.
Target Audience
The primary target audience includes patients with wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration (wAMD) and the ophthalmologists who treat them.
Features
- Tunable drug elution achieved by varying the porosity of the capsule wall
- Extended-release demonstrated in vitro for up to 9 months with bevacizumab
- Biodegradable polymer composition for safe in vivo degradation
- Double-walled capsule design for controlled drug release kinetics
- Electrospinning manufacturing process for precise control over capsule properties
- Protective capsule environment maintains the integrity of biologic therapeutics