Biopharma startup readies next-generation targeted drug delivery

SHALABH JAIN, 30, of Center City, is founder, chairman and CEO of Hyalo Technologies, a biopharmaceutical company in University City. The startup is developing a biodegradable, targeted drug-delivery system called the HyaloSphere that will reduce systemic side effects of drugs and increase patient compliance.

Q: How'd you come up with the idea?

A: As a medical student I observed that the compliance rate was low and the systemic side effects were high among some cancer patients or other patients taking prescribed medications. After I graduated from medical school in 2012, I went to Switzerland for six months and did contract research to refine the idea. In 2014, after raising some seed money, I came to Philadelphia and got lab space at University City Science Center.

Q: The startup money?

A: Initially from personal savings and friends and family. Overall, we've raised about $3 million, and $2 million of that has come from angel investors.

Q: What's the biz do?

A: We've developed five products and our goal is to bring them to market by partnering with big pharmaceutical companies. The drugs eventually will be able to treat cancer, bacterial infections, pain management, psychiatric disorders and skin diseases for which no similar treatment is available. We call them HyaloSpheres, or microparticles, that have been embedded with drugs, and they have five unique aspects. One is nanotechnology, meaning the drugs can be delivered to small parts of the body where the disease is. For example, with cancer, you need to target therapy to the affected organ's cells to treat it effectively. Currently, most drugs go throughout the body and create unpleasant side effects.

Q: How will the biz model work?

A: We're starting our business development now and have gotten our animal studies from Thomas Jefferson University. The plan is to seek out big pharmaceutical companies and do strategic partnerships or licensing agreements. We envision getting a development fee initially and then a percentage royalty as they begin to market the product.

Q: The value prop?

A: Our technology will lead to more positive patient outcomes by increasing patient compliance, decreasing side effects, which in turn will reduce systemic healthcare costs across the board. Nobody else offers the combination we do, which is nanotechnology, time-controlled drug release, sequential drug-delivery intelligence - meaning you take a drug once instead of a pill every day, and slowly deliver the drug in a targeted manner - and the drug is 100 percent biodegradable, so once it's delivered in the body it gets absorbed by the body.

Q: How big a biz?

A: Nine people: M.D.s, Ph.D.s and experienced former pharmaceutical executives.

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