By Michael J. LaBarre, Ph.D., Chief Technical Officer, Halozyme
While we may think of patients with a specific condition as a homogenous community with similar needs, there can be variances in age, lifestyle and other factors that could impact how specific individuals prefer to receive treatment. Prioritizing the patient experience means providing optionality where possible. At Halozyme, we continuously push the pace of innovation. We already have developed and are developing new drug delivery technologies for patients.
Halozyme has seen first-hand how impactful and transformational effective collaboration between partners can bring forward treatment options with the patient experience truly front and center. Our partners have leveraged Halozyme’s proprietary drug delivery technologies and coupled them with their unique expertise in drug development for specific disease areas. Together, our complementary strengths allow the collaboration to move forward efficiently and effectively under a unified objective of creating options regarding treatment administration.
With our proprietary ENHANZE® drug delivery technology, we help develop therapies for differentiated large volume subcutaneous drug delivery – all with the intent of improving the experiences of the patient. Halozyme’s pharmaceutical partners have already commercially launched five products globally utilizing ENHANZE®, with more than 600,000 patients treated commercially with products utilizing ENHANZE®. Our ENHANZE® technology is based on our patented recombinant human hyaluronidase PH20 enzyme, rHuPH20, which locally degrades hyaluronan (HA) in the subcutaneous (SC) space temporarily removing a barrier to fluid flow in the SC space. This allows for large volume SC injection with increased dispersion and absorption of the drug when ENHANZE® is co-administered or co-formulated with the treatment.
ENHANZE® can allow some biologic and small molecule drugs that are administered intravenously to be delivered subcutaneously, in volumes today ranging from 5 to 600 mL, opening the door to potential benefits for patients, healthcare systems and manufacturers.
This year, Halozyme has taken steps to advance research and development for a large-volume auto-injector, targeting injections up to 10 mL with ENHANZE®. By combining an innovative auto-injector platform with ENHANZE®, a unique opportunity exists for patient-friendly, high volume subcutaneous treatment delivery that can potentially be utilized across a spectrum of disease areas for both biologic and small molecule drugs.
With many years of experience in drug device engineering, we have research and development prowess in creating custom-designed drug delivery devices that address patient and therapeutic needs.
Our goal is to forge new partnerships through our strong track record of collaboration, innovation, and flexibility to leverage our ENHANZE® technology and our comprehensive medical device and drug development expertise. We seek to form durable relationships with pharmaceutical leaders to enhance the lives of patients and create value for all stakeholders.
Strategic collaborations have driven innovation within the biotech industry since its inception. While all partnerships require a clear objective and careful collaboration, a keen awareness of each organization’s strengths and how to properly mesh them will propel a partnership toward success in delivering increased patient optionality to improve the patient experience.
Pursuing and achieving this mission creates a healthier and more hopeful future for all.
To learn more about Halozyme Therapeutics and start the discussion on how we can unlock self-administration for your drug product, visit Halozyme.com.
The editorial staff had no role in this post's creation.