BioCentury
ARTICLE | Distillery Techniques

Drug delivery; drug platforms

May 23, 2017 8:34 PM UTC

A method of generating photosensitive prodrugs could enable site-specific activation of therapies for neurological and other diseases. The prodrugs consisting of pain signaling inhibitors conjugated to a violet light-absorbing coumarin analog released active compounds when the thalamus, peripheral nociceptors or other ascending pain pathways were irradiated with violet light. In a mouse model of neuropathic pain, a prodrug of raseglurant -- a negative allosteric modulator of metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 5 (mGluR5; GRM5) -- plus intrathalamic violet light irradiation decreased mechanical allodynia compared with prodrug alone or vehicle plus irradiation. In a mouse model of chemical-induced paw pain, the prodrug plus either intrathalamic or hind paw violet light irradiation decreased pain-related behavior. Ongoing work has included applying the prodrug technology to undisclosed compounds for Parkinson's disease and psoriasis...