Inkjet printing technology of biological drugs on polymeric films for buccal administration developed by CENDHY director Dr. Javier Morales Montecinos, then licenced to PriMe Technology SpA, is one of the finalists in the 2020 edition of Premio Avonni on the health category.

The organization announced on Tuesday, 27th of August, the selection of 37 finalist teams on their 12 categories, after the deliberation between more than 100 expert juries who analized 348 applications. Premio Avonni is an honorific award developed by fundación ForoInnovación along with El Mercurio and Televisión Nacional de Chile, which started on 2007 and seeks to masively inspire chilean people on the value of innovation through the visibilization of success stories in different areas.
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PriMe Technology SpA, a university spin-off leaded by CEO Juanita Castañeda Prada, is one of the 37 finalists. The foundation of this pharmaceutical technology innovation company is the inkjet printing technology developed by professor Javier Morales Montecinos.
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“This news is a tremendous acknowledgement to the effort in the development of this tecnology from our research and also to the spin-off PriMe Tech which intends to promote the technology onto further steps of technological validation” stated Javier Morales Montecinos, academic at Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacéuticas de la Universidad de Chile after the announcement.

This technology consists in the printing of drugs with administration difficulties as the case of insoluble drugs or those with high molecular weight, such as insuline, on polymeric films. Molecules serve as the ink that is loaded on a conventional printer, but instead of paper, this technology uses the substrate of polymeric films. It is similar to a patch that is placed on the inner face of the mouth cheek.

The technology has been validated in preclinical fases for the insulin molecule by PriMe Tech and would allow patients with Diabetes Mellitus take their insulin through buccal administration instead of an inyection. The main goal of this technology is to improve chronic treatment adherence given that it facilitates drug administration. Also, if it is possible to replace the use of needles and reduce the plastic disposables associated with inyections, this technology would contribute to minimize environmental impact of the pharmaceutical industry. PriMe Technology was one of the finalists at the innovation program Know Hub Ignition 2019 from Know Hub Chile and is part of their portfolio.

This technology, which was invented by CENDHY Director, his students and collaborators at University of Chile, was licenced through the university’s Vicerrectoría de Innovación y Desarrollo, in charge of the technological transfer of products developed by researchers at the university. On our scientific proposal as CENDHY, this technology will be used in the development of fast drug delivery systems.

Winners of the 2020 edition will be announced at the end of the year.