Peptide-mimetic hydrogels as a long-acting multipurpose drug delivery platform for combined contraception and HIV prevention

HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death in women of reproductive age worldwide. HIV and unintended pregnancies are prevalent in developing nations due to the lack of effective female contraceptive choice. HIV/AIDs remains one of the key challenges facing the UK (428 deaths from AIDS-related illnesses in 2017) and our rate of unintended pregnancies are the highest in Western Europe (one in six pregnancies). One of the key issues is that patients struggle to adhere to the complex regimens of HIV and contraceptive therapies, which often require multiple dosing at very specific times each day. Recent strategies have focused on solving patient adherence issues by using long-acting injectable technologies. However, such products have several significant issues that limit their wider use as combined HIV and contraceptive therapies, such as:
-the use of water-insoluble drugs that limit the type of drugs that can be incorporated into the product meaning a dual HIV-contraceptive technology is difficult to achieve
-fast drug release after insertion leading to potential toxicity issues/concerns over dose received
-a need for surgery for implant insertion and removal
-a requirement for large needles
-stability issues upon storage/transport to the developing world which can result in clogging of syringes and incomplete dosing of drugs.

Our project aims to overcome these issues by creating a soluble injection of enhanced stability, for improved ease of administration under the skin. This will form a hydrogel implant in response to enzymes present within the skin to release drugs long-term, removing the need for daily dosing. Our injectable implant is composed of peptide-like molecules which are capable of forming tissue-like hydrogels that can be tailored to gradually release drugs for at least 28 days. This will remove the need for patients to comply with complex drug dosing regimens on a daily basis and improve their adherence to medication. Natural peptides form the building blocks of proteins and tissues. Their use as a drug releasing hydrogel implant for administration under the skin is promising due to their high biocompatibility, but limited by their rapid degradation within hours by enzymes present in the human body. This project overcomes stability issues by studying peptide-mimetics, which retain the positive properties of peptides (e.g. biocompatibility, easy drug attachment) with the ability to form hydrogels that will be stable for the duration of therapy. Peptide-mimetics can be tailored to degrade within the body over months into non-toxic components that are eliminated from the patient, meaning surgical removal is not necessary.

Our peptide-mimetics possess high chemical versatility (i.e. wide choice of chemical functional groups). Therefore multiple drugs can be attached directly to the peptide-mimetic hydrogel enabling large quantities of drug to be incorporated to meet in vivo therapeutic need for at least 28 days. Drug detachment proceeds in physiological conditions after the hydrogel forms reducing potential for rapid burst release of drug upon injection. Drug release studies will assess the potential for sustained drug administration in a bid to minimise pharmacokinetic peaks and troughs in drug concentrations. The peptide-mimetics studied in this project are purposefully small molecules that are cheap to manufacture, improving their potential to be clinically translated as a pharmaceutical product and effectively utilised within healthcare budgets for patient and societal benefit.

The data obtained will allow the practical utility of this peptide-mimetic hydrogel approach to long-acting injectable administration of drugs to be assessed. This platform has high potential to be adopted as a novel implant for the sustained delivery of drugs for conditions where patients have difficulty adhering to their medicines (e.g. Alzheimer's, tuberculosis, depression, schizophrenia, malaria).

The beneficiaries from this project are the following:

Academia and Business/Industry: Our platform has high potential to be scalable by the pharmaceutical industry and distributed worldwide. Our project will bring international investment, commercialisation and knowledge exploitation to the UK in a key area, i.e. healthcare (see letter of support Merck). It will advance the EPSRC's goals aligning with the aims of their Future Manufacturing Hub in Targeted Healthcare and their current portfolios (see Case for Support: National Importance). Benefits to QUB are increased recognition as a leading university for knowledge exchange and commercialisation of our platform via patents and industrial investment. Our project will generate data key to product development, important for clinical trials and commercialisation via the pharmaceutical industry.

Impact on society: Our project will test the feasibility of a single long-acting product that simultaneously targets contraception and HIV. It will have lasting impact, addressing family planning and HIV prevention and empowering women to take control of their sexual health worldwide. Current therapies fail to address the global burden of HIV transmission and provision of contraception due to poor patient compliance with complicated treatment regimens and the limitations of existing formulations. Our technology will overcome such barriers by providing therapeutic coverage for greater than 28 days within a single injection. Our research will inform national (MHRA) and international (FDA) policy makers with regard to regulation of peptide-mimetics. It will provide a valuable alternative to healthcare professionals involved in HIV and contraceptive provision. It will aid in preventing HIV development and improve compliance with therapy, thereby limiting HIV antimicrobial resistance. Our research will increase political interest in developing new medical therapies, especially within the theme of drug delivery. It will provide evidence that effective legislation is addressing both the HIV crisis and improved contraceptive choice worldwide, positively influencing policies towards funding of health services, medical research and education.

Impact on people: The Research Fellows and the research team will enhance their skills in multiple disciplines (chemistry, biology, physics, pharmaceutics, project management) by being involved within project meetings and all stages of product development. The Research Fellows will increase their employability (e.g. papers, conferences) for a future role within academia or industry.

Impact on economy: This project will significantly contribute to the prevention of HIV and unwanted pregnancies, a large burden on economies worldwide. This technology will contribute substantially to the UN's Goals of: improving maternal reproductive health; combating HIV and preventing sexually transmitted infections; good health and gender equality. It will increase the UK's reputation in research, resulting in economic prosperity and increased employment within healthcare.

Dissemination and communication: Other beneficiaries include the general public, charities (e.g. Positive Life NI), students and those involved in STEM education. Our project will improve teaching within UK higher and secondary education, serving as a case study for materials research, leading to improvement in research skills within the population and increased public engagement in research and education. The W5 Science museum Belfast will benefit from annual talks and we will aim to develop a permanent case study. Students (PhD, MSc, BSc) at QUB will benefit from sharing of knowledge from the research team through e.g. lectures. Undergraduates will benefit from engaging in lab projects and summer studentships (e.g. paper authorship). This will increase their employability via direct experience of a multi-disciplinary project, increasing their enthusiasm for a career in the STEM sector.