Liquidia Technologies, headquartered in Research Triangle Park, has received an exclusive license for a protein particle fabrication method developed by researchers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC).
A nanotechnology company specializing in precisely engineered particles and films, Liquidia will use the process known as PRINT(R) (Particle Replication in Non-Wetting Templates) to expand the use of protein therapeutics to diagnose and cure disease. The PRINT method can form protein particles of uniform size and shape, which optimizes the protein stability, solubility, and concentration, while decreasing aggregation.
Liquidia has obtained a worldwide license to all rights for the PRINT platform and is working with partners to design protein particle therapeutics for effective delivery to the lung and other targets.
"This technology has the unique opportunity to overcome the challenges associated with protein therapeutics and contribute to the development of highly specific therapeutics for a wide range of diseases," said Liquidia CEO, Neal Fowler.
Joseph DeSimone, Liquidia founder and professor of chemistry and chemical engineering at UNC, and Jennifer Kelly, a graduate student in DeSimone's lab, led the research effort at UNC. Their work was published in the April 23 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.