BMBF PeTrA Project to Make Administration of Biopharmaceuticals More Tolerable for Patients   

Biopharmaceuticals have been on the advance for years in modern drug therapy. They include peptides, proteins and antibodies, nucleic acids and blood components that represent a promising basis for new active principles and for cancer immunotherapy. Many of these highly successful drugs improve patient life quality and have enormous technological potential for the pharmaceutical industry.
   Today, biopharmaceuticals are mostly administered by injection. Indeed, there is no efficient or broadly applicable system for administering them via the mouth (oral) or through the respiratory pathways (inhalation) because they are not easily absorbed by the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract and respiration system, and tend to be degraded in the stomach before they can have an effect on the body.
   The goal of the interdisciplinary research project PeTrA*, which is sponsored by the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), is supersede the need for injections for biopharmaceuticals used e.g. in cancer immunotherapy by developing spray and tablet formulations which include innovative biofunctional polymers. The project is designed to simplify the administration of biopharmaceuticals and to improve their bioavailability. PeTrA is managed by a consortium consisting of Evonik Industries AG, Merck KGaA, EMC microcollections GmbH, the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI), and the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology (IGB).
   The PeTrA project aims at overcoming these obstacles by packaging highly sensitive biopharmaceuticals into nano- and micro-sized particles that transport the active ingredients through the mucous membranes and protect them from degradation in the stomach.
   The project, which started on July 1, 2011, is scheduled to last for three years. Approximately half of the 6 million Euro budget is supported by the three industry partners.