OxSonics® proprietary SonoTran® Platform comprises injectable ‘SonoTran Particles’ and a portable ultrasound ‘SonoTran System’. Because no drug reformulation is required the Platform can potentially be applied to both in-market and investigational oncology agents.
Find out more about the SonoTran Platform by watching our animation.
SonoTran Particles
OxSonics’ proprietary SonoTran Particles carry a pre-formed stabilised gas bubble that is able to create sustained levels of ‘inertial cavitation’ (bubble expansion and collapse) when exposed to ultrasound at the site of the tumour. This purely mechanical effect is used to actively enhance the transport of native therapeutics into and throughout tumours. Find out more about the SonoTran Platform by watching our animation.
The SonoTran Particles are co-administered independently alongside the native anti-cancer therapeutic agent. By virtue of their size (400-500 nm), the SonoTran Particles have been optimised to circulate in the blood stream, and to be able to pass through the leaky endothelium specifically found within solid tumours.
The SonoTran Particles confer the following enabling features:
- Optimal Pharmacokinetics
- The in vivo circulation kinetics of SonoTran Particles have been designed to be compatible with a broad range, if not all, therapeutic oncology agents and to provide sufficient time to administer ultrasound to the anatomic region of interest.
- Range of Administration Routes
- SonoTran Particles are designed to adopt the same administration route as the therapeutic agent, including intravenous (IV), intra-tumoural (IT) or intraperitoneal (IP).
- Optimal & Consistent Size
- The SonoTran Particle size has been selected to enable extravasation via the enlarged endothelial junction gaps (‘leaky vasculature’) present in solid tumours.
- Sustained Levels of Cavitation
- Due to the number density and physical properties of the Particles, in pre-clinical studies the cavitation process has been shown to be repeatable and sustained through successive ultrasound pulses. This enables gradual active convection of the therapeutic agent to distances of greater than 200 microns from blood vessels into tumours.
- No Drug Reformulation
- The particles are independently administered alongside the therapeutic agent, no drug reformulation is required.
- Clinical Workflow Integration
- For intravenous administration, the SonoTran Particles will be delivered to the patient via an infusion bag and giving set making their administration fit neatly within current oncology ward out-patient clinical practice.
SonoTran System
The SonoTran System is a novel proprietary ultrasound device uniquely designed by OxSonics to image, treat, and monitor target tissue regions in the oncology ward setting. The System uses diagnostic-level ultrasound pressures focused to a user-selectable target region.
It is intended that conventional ultrasound imaging, either alone or in combination with diagnostic MR or CT patient image data, can be used to guide and register treatment of target tissue regions.
The SonoTran System uses patent protected ‘see-as-you-treat’ algorithms that should allow the user to confirm that the treatment is being successfully applied to the target tissues. This feature could be extended to full 3D monitoring if utilizing CT or MR registration.
The SonoTran System has been designed in collaboration with oncology radiologists to be used efficiently in an oncology day treatment unit rather than in a radiology ward.
OxSonics plans to provide an installed base of SonoTran Systems alongside the provision of training and service and maintenance of Systems. This allows our strategic partners to focus on the commercialisation of the SonoTran Particles in combination with their therapeutic agent.
© OxSonics Ltd
The Magdalen CentreOxford Science Park
Robert Robinson Avenue
Oxford, OX4 4GA
UK
