This KTP focused on investigating the application of liposome formulations to improve the efficacy of drugs delivered via Lonza‘s liquid-filled capsules.

KTP Associate: Swapnil Khadke 

University University of Strathclyde

Company Lonza

The project

The objective of this programme was to investigate the application of liposome formulations to improve the efficacy of drugs delivered via Lonza‘s liquid-filled capsules. Liposomes are spherical lipid vesicles, traditionally delivered via injection, which release their drug cargo into the target site by mimicking cell walls. 

It has not been considered feasible to deliver liposomes orally due to degradation within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. This programme involved a new approach to overcome this limitation by using Lonza’s liquid-filled capsule formats to protect the liposomes as they travel through the GI tract. The programme involved investigation into the application of various drugs including: 

1. An antibiotic agent. Antibiotic resistance represents a serious health issue in modern health care. Should the enhanced efficacy be demonstrated with liposomal formulations, this would represent a significant advance in tackling antibiotic resistance.

2. An anti-inflammatory agent, to be determined for the treatment of colonic disease such as Crohn’s. Some of the anti-inflammatory agents can have serious side effects and are best delivered locally.

The KTP Associate:

The project has introduced a new technique for Lonza to manufacture capsule-based drugs using liposomes. The data generated has been strong and the liposome formulations have shown improved efficacy in-vitro, in comparison to the drug alone. 

This project is particularly exciting as it has the potential for these formulations to improve the current therapy for the disease states targeted. The possibility of the reduced human dose will allow for a significant reduction in cost compared to traditional methods. 

• Swapnil delivered all the outcomes of the 28-month project on-time and on-budget, successfully developing a new drug delivery technique. 
• He is in the process of submitting a patent for which he is the inventor, entitled “Local delivery of liposome to the lower GI tract”. 
• He improved his skills in formulation development to scale up the liposome manufacturing process. 
• He supervised three Masters students who performed experiments for the project and created a business model to allow Lonza to utilise the new technologies. 
• He organised seminars and workshops to share his knowledge with partners at Lonza. 
• Published 15 abstracts and shared the outcomes in 7 oral presentations at international conferences in Spain, UK, Germany, Japan and the USA. 
• He won a Young Scientist award for this work in Sapporo, Japan. 
• Ensured knowledge transfer, and delivered seminars that have trained scientists at Lonza to perform the new techniques with the possibility of setting up an independent liposome manufacturing facility at Lonza in the future. 

Through the KTP, Lonza has been able to keep at the cutting edge of liposome research and development to ensure that the project is moving ahead of the current literature. In this collaboration, Lonza has been able to use modern liposome manufacturing equipment and techniques at the University of Strathclyde, which allowed the company to proceed to development without significant equipment investment, leading to substantial cost savings.

Winners of this category will be announced in advance of the KTP Virtual Awards Ceremony which is at 4-5pm on Wednesday 9 September. Join us in our virtual world to celebrate all the winners – register here.

See below for a profile of each of the 18 finalists in the Future Innovator category of this year’s KTP Best of the Best Awards:

Muddasar Anwar  Delivering innovation for Sustainable Drainage System to prevent flooding.

Blessing Mbipom Creating online learning for GPs.

Laurence Foster: Innovations to “print” structures, transforming house building.

Declan Bryans: Creating greener energy with innovations in flow batteries.

Elle Perschke: Applying B2C methodologies to launch a new product within a B2B company.

Mark Gilmore: Development of new class of greener ionic liquid, with multiple potential applications.

Khai Nguyen: Inventing a new silicone composite for consumer fixing brand, Sugru.

Swapnil Khadke: Creating new liposome formulations for application in drug delivery

Leona McGirr: Creating an Antibody Library for fully human antibodies.

Dan Hicks: Developing a new design and testing process for electric trails bikes.

Dmitry Bogachov: Advancing Materials Science for Anilox technology.

Andrew Grounds: Transforming business models for Social Enterprise.

Lyndsey McKirdy: Enhancing data science capability at Aggreko.

Jack Tallant: Transforming reporting and delivery of Charity’s activities.

Xi Liu: Using AI to develop fraud detection and prevention services for law firm.

Alex Komninos: Transforming spreadsheets in to cognitive models at IBM

Harvey Kangley: Delivering exceptional NPD for rail electrification

George Harris: Developing advanced engineering for intruder detection systems.

The Future Innovator category of the KTP Awards is supported by Ashorne Hill – a specialist training company which runs training programmes for all KTP Associates.

Want to find out more about working as a KTP Associate? More information here, and see the latest vacancies here.