PassPort Technologies
Revolutionizing Transdermal Drug Delivery

The conventional drug patch market in the US has been relatively constrained due to a significant lack of avant garde innovations. Most of the existing commercial transdermal patches are stifled by their physical size and inability to perforate through the skin’s barrier layer, restricting the use of transdermal systems to a limited number of therapeutics requiring lipophilic small molecule drugs. Realizing the limitations of conventional patches, a San Diego-based company, PassPort Technologies, took the onus of expanding the drug patch market with its novel active transdermal technology platform, the PassPort® System, facilitating transdermal drug delivery to a broader range of therapeutics. “We are a combination product-focused organization that strives to develop therapeutics using advanced drug delivery systems,” states Jared Hahn, Head of Business Development at PassPort Technologies.

The PassPort® System combines a reusable device technology that painlessly create micropores on the skin by removing the stratum corneum (barrier layer) and transdermal drug patches. These micropores allow drugs to be delivered from the patch and into the epidermis, where they eventually reach the circulatory system. As the PassPort® System bypasses the barrier layer of the skin, it enables the delivery of a wider range of therapeutics, from small molecules to biologics such as peptides, proteins, monoclonal antibodies, and vaccines, through drug patches. Its easy-to-use application process allows patients or caregivers to administer drugs comfortably at home without pain or complications, eliminating the need for frequent visits to clinics for routine drug administration and positively impacting their overall quality of life.

Based on advanced microporation technology, PassPort Technologies’ transdermal platform uses thermal ablation to create micropores in the skin. This is achieved via a bimetallic microfilament array that converts electrical energy into heat to ablate the skin in a controlled and painless manner. Once the energy is delivered, micropores are created in less than a second; subsequently, a drug patch is placed on the ablated skin for drug delivery.

Notably, in addition to creating a defined number of micropores on the skin’s surface, the PassPort® System also controls the depth of these micropores in a reproducible manner. As a result, they only penetrate deep enough to reach the viable epidemies and do not directly contact the nerve endings and blood vessels.

This enhances the patient experience, making patients more comfortable and willing to self-administer medication. More importantly, the PassPort® System enables the drug delivery profile to be customized to overcome challenges with existing routes of administration or better achieve for a specific disease or therapeutic indication. For instance, the system can mimic subcutaneous injections or IV infusions and is able to create slow-release or bolus-like pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles, depending on the requirement.

At present, PassPort Technologies is developing an internal pipeline of candidates that utilize its proprietary PassPort® delivery platform. As an example, the company has an Investigational New Drug (IND) application filed in the US and intends to initiate initial human clinical studies later this year.

In parallel, PassPort Technologies is collaborating with leading academic institutions, small specialty pharma groups, and multinational pharmaceutical companies. The company works with its partners to overcome challenges and enhance the efficiency of their drug candidate through its expertise and technology. Hahn shares an instance of one such collaboration with Japan’s Hokkaido University that developed a new peptide candidate for treating Alzheimer’s disease. Upon facing challenges to delivering the peptide through injections, the university consulted PassPort Technologies for assistance. The company adjusted the PK profile of the peptide candidate to achieve the required delivery and circulation using its transdermal drug delivery system.

Likewise, the company is on a continual innovation path and is strengthening its system with incremental improvements. One such plan currently in process is the addition of wireless technologies to deliver a connected device environment for the patients and caregivers. This advancement will allow the company to simplify the drug delivery process and enable them to improve patient outcomes by aggregating data through feedback.