Finnish drug company DelSiTech Ltd reported on Monday the launch of a world-wide, exclusive licence agreement for the use of its Silica Matrix drug delivery platform in the development and commercialisation of a long acting HIV therapy to improve outcomes in HIV in partnership with Innovare R&D, a Mexican pharmaceutical company.

This agreement allows Innovare to use DelSiTech's technology on its peptide membrane fusion inhibitor, targeting the envelope protein of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1).

As part of the agreement, DelSiTech is entitled to receive an upfront payment, milestone payments and royalties on development, commercialisation and sales of the Silica Matrix formulated T1144 drug product. The value of the deal was not disclosed.

The Silica Matrix is an advanced delivery technology for parenteral and local administration of injectable and implant dosage forms as well as eye drops. The proprietary technology is based on silica (SiO2) matrix into which the molecule or therapeutic agent of interest is embedded using a process called sol-gel. The resulting Matrix is non-porous, biocompatible and it can be designed to biodegrade by matrix dissolution at the desired rate to ensure a tightly controlled release of the active substance over periods of days up to many months or a year. The technology can be applied to all types of molecules including therapeutic peptides of various lengths.