PEG-PLGA and PLGA-fluorescent products used in development of immunotherapy delivery system.

 

Immunotherapy is the process by which the body’s own immune response is utilized to attack cancer cells. Researchers at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center used mPEG-PLGA (AK104), PLGA-Rhodamine (AV027), and PLGA-CY5 (AV034) from PolySciTech Division of Akina, Inc. (www.polyscitech.com) to develop nanoparticles for immunotherapy delivery. This research holds promise to improve treatment against cancer. Read more: Au, Kin Man, Siqing Li, Tian Zhang, and Andrew Z. Wang. "Biologically targeted dual adaptive and innate nano-Immunotherapy for clear cell renal cell carcinoma treatment." Molecular Cancer 24, no. 1 (2025): 1-28. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12943-025-02382-y

“Immunotherapy treatments have significantly improved metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) treatment outcomes. Despite recent advancements, the rates of durable response to immunotherapy remain low, and the toxicity profiles of treatment continue to be high. To address these challenges, we report the development of a human carbonic anhydrase-IX (hCA-9)-targeted multifunctional immunotherapy nanoparticles (MINPs) aimed at improving treatment efficacy and reducing toxicity. We hypothesized that these MINPs will facilitate the recognition and elimination of hCA-9-expressing tumor cells by both adaptive immune cells (cytotoxic CD8+ T cells) and innate immune cells (natural killer (NK) cells). Non-targeted and hCA-9-targeted MINPs were prepared by conjugating anti-CA-9, anti-4-1BB, and anti-CD27 antibodies to poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) diblock copolymer NPs. The abilities of different MINPs in activating CD8+ T cells, NK cells, and human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (hPBMCs) were assessed. In vivo efficacy and mechanistic studies were conducted to evaluate the anticancer activities of different MINPs in immunocompetent hCA-9-transfected mouse RCC tumor models and human ccRCC xenograft models using humanized mice. We also investigated the impact of aging on anticancer efficacy of hCA-9-targeted MINPs in humanized mice. The immune-related side effects associated with the systemic administration of hCA-9-targeted MINPs were characterized. Human CA-9-targeted multifunctionalized immunotherapy NPs (MINPs) functionalized with anti-CA-9, anti-4-1BB, and anti-CD27 antibodies outperformed hCA-9-targeted bifunctionalized immunotherapy NPs (BINPs), non-targeted BINPs, and the combination of free antibodies in activating mouse CD8+ T cells and NK cells to kill hCA-9-expressing RCC cells in vitro. In vivo correlative study confirmed that tumor targeting and effective spatiotemporal coactivation of the 4-1BB and CD27 pathways in CD8+ T cells and NK cells are essential for robust antitumor activity. Furthermore, hCA-9-targeted MINPs, but not the combination of free antibodies, inhibited the growth of human ccRCC in hPBMC-humanized mouse models. The anticancer activity of MINPs in mice humanized with hPBMCs from older donors was slightly weaker than in those humanized with younger donors. More importantly, the MINP formulation effectively prevented the hepatotoxicity associated with the systemic administration of immune checkpoint agonistic antibodies. This study demonstrates that MINPs are a versatile platform capable of facilitating immune cell engagement and the eradication of targeted ccRCC without causing systemic immune-related side effects.”

mPEG-PLGA (AK104) (https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/polyvivo/index.php?highlight=AK104#h)

PLGA-Rhodamine (AV027) (https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/polyvivo/index.php?highlight=AV027#h)

PLGA-CY5 (AV034) (https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/polyvivo/index.php?highlight=AV034#h)

Akina, Inc. launches new GMP manufacturing service available to outside customers https://www.akinainc.com/midwestgmp/

Corbion Purasorb® Polymers: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/purasorb/

Ashland-TM Polymer Products: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/ashland/

BPR Akina's Free Scientific Conference (West Lafayette, 9/30/25: (https://akinainc.com/bprconference/)

Fluorescently labelled chitosan from PolySciTech used in research on hydrogels.

 

Hydrogels are hydrated polymer networks useful for a wide range of biomedical applications. Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and University of Pittsburgh used chitosan derivatives (KITO-1, KITO-9, and KITO-11) from PolySciTech Division of Akina, Inc. (www.polyscitech.com) to research topological adhesion based hydrogels. This research holds promise to provide for a wide range of biomedical applications.Read more: Sun, Jiatai, Qihan Liu, and Jiawei Yang. "Mixing Polymers and Polymer Networks for Topological Adhesion." Available at SSRN 5293526. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5293526

“Adhesion between polymer networks is important for a wide range of medical applications. Established adhesion methods mostly focus on the chemistry design of interfacial bonds to connect two polymer networks. By contrast, a recently developed adhesion method, called topological adhesion, uses stitch polymers to diffuse into two polymer networks and gelate to a new polymer network that connects them through topological entanglement. The prerequisite of topological adhesion is the mixing of stitch polymers and polymer networks. Understanding the mixing process and conditions will guide the design of topological adhesion systems to meet diverse adhesion requirements and situations. In this paper, we combine theoretical modeling and experiments to study the mixing of polymers with polymer networks. The theoretical model is set up as mixing stitch polymers with an in-plane constrained polymer network to replicate the mixing process of topological adhesion. We take a thermodynamic approach to develop the model and determine the concentration of mixing polymers under various material parameters of polymers and polymer networks. We first study two limiting cases in which the stitch polymer is one monomeric size and infinite size. We then provide a set of results on the general mixing cases. We further conduct experiments by immersing in-plane constrained hydrogels in fluorescence-labeled polymer solutions and characterizing the mixing concentration. The experiment results agree well with the theoretical prediction, except for cases with extremely low polymer concentrations. We finally discuss the design guidelines for enhancing the mixing of polymers and polymer networks for topological adhesion. Keywords: Topological adhesion, polymer, hydrogel, mixing”

Kitopure (Cat#KITO): https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/Kitopure/

Akina, Inc. launches new GMP manufacturing service available to outside customers https://www.akinainc.com/midwestgmp/

Corbion Purasorb® Polymers: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/purasorb/

Ashland-TM Polymer Products: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/ashland/

BPR Akina's Free Scientific Conference (West Lafayette, 9/30/25: (https://akinainc.com/bprconference/)

PLGA-PEG-biotin from PolySciTech used in testing of serum protein attachment to nanoparticles

 

A powerful tool is the ability for nanoparticles to specifically bind to receptors in-vivo for drug delivery. Researchers at University of Toronto, Imperial College of London, University of Washington, California Institute of Technology, and University of Waterloo used PLGA-PEG-Biotin (Cat# AI167) from PolySciTech Division of Akina, Inc. (www.polyscitech.com) to develop nanoparticles and test these along with many other configurations to determine the impact of serum binding. This research holds promise to improve drug delivery techniques in the future. Read more: Stordy, Benjamin P., Zahra Sepahi, Gabriel D. Patrón, Wei Yang, Alexander D. Goodson, Colin Blackadar, Anthony J. Tavares et al. "The Binding Affinities of Serum Proteins to Nanoparticles." Journal of the American Chemical Society (2025). https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jacs.5c02576



“Nanoparticles can be coated with targeting ligands to deliver medical agents to specific cells. Serum protein adsorption affects the binding of nanoparticles to target cells. We hypothesized that serum proteins and target receptors compete for binding to nanoparticles. We tested the serum protein binding affinity of 251 nanoparticle designs. Here, we discovered that the binding affinities of serum proteins and receptors to a nanoparticle determine whether it can bind to target cells. We developed and validated a quantitative metric, the binding ratio, to identify nanoparticle designs that can bind to targets in serum with 90% sensitivity and 88% specificity. Using the binding ratio as a numerical guideline for nanoparticle design enabled us to improve the efficiency of nanoparticle binding to target cellular receptors.”

PLGA-PEG-Biotin (Cat# AI167): https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/polyvivo/index.php?highlight=AI167#h

Akina, Inc. launches new GMP manufacturing service available to outside customers https://www.akinainc.com/midwestgmp/

Corbion Purasorb® Polymers: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/purasorb/

Ashland-TM Polymer Products: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/ashland/

BPR Akina's Free Scientific Conference (West Lafayette, 9/30/25: (https://akinainc.com/bprconference/)

PCL from PolySciTech used in microparticles for delivery of psoralen to treat arthritis

 

Rheumatoid Arthritis is a degenerative joint disease caused by the breakdown of cartilage. Researchers at China Three Gorges University used PCL (cat# AP257) from PolySciTech Division of Akina, Inc. (www.polyscitech.com) to develop microparticles to deliver psoralen to joints for arthritis treatment. Read more: Wang, Yanhua, Lixian Zhu, Zhijie Gao, Tengyue Zhang, Hechao Zhao, and Dexian Zeng. "Psoralen-Loaded Polycaprolactone Microspheres: A Ph-Responsive Drug Carrier for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis." Available at SSRN 5277165. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5277165

“Developing novel drug carriers for delivery of psoralen (PSO) is crucial to inhibit the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The goal of this work is to develop PSO-loaded polycaprolactone (PCL) microspheres through a single emulsion solvent evaporation route, helping to release drug in a controllable manner and thereby improve its bioavailability. The resulting PCL@PSO microspheres are characterized by multiple physicochemical techniques. Results exhibit the loading of PSO into PCL increases the size and specific surface area. Also, the encapsulation efficiency and loading capacity of PCL@PSO microspheres are (87.77 ± 0.07)% and (12.28 ± 0.01)%, respectively. Release experiments show such microspheres exhibit pH-responsive drug kinetics, predominantly releasing PSO in alkaline environments in contrast with neutral or acidic conditions. This release pattern is conducive to inhibit inflammatory response whilst promote osteanagenesis in bone microenvironment. Cell experiments demonstrate PCL@PSO microspheres are cytocompatible with BMSCs cell but strongly toxic to RBL-2H3 cell. Mechanistically, mitochondrial apoptotic pathway, as evidenced by the up-regulation of pro-apoptosis proteins such as Caspase3, Cyto-c and Bax, is activated by PCL@PSO via increased ROS and reduced mitochondria membrane potentials. Further, the up-regulation of APC and LATS1 and the down-regulation of OIP5 are contributed to RBL-2H3 cell apoptosis. Moreover, PCL@PSO could down-regulate histamine receptor HRH1 expression in RBL-2H3 cell, thereby inhibiting inflammation expansion. Conclusively, it is feasible to use PCL@PSO microspheres as candidate micro-carriers to deliver PSO, terminally benefitting to inhibit inflammatory response whilst promote osteanagenesis, especially for individuals suffered from rheumatoid arthritis. Keywords: PCL, PSO, Drug delivery, disease therapy”

PCL (Cat# AP257): https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/polyvivo/index.php?highlight=AP257#h

Akina, Inc. launches new GMP manufacturing service available to outside customers https://www.akinainc.com/midwestgmp/

Corbion Purasorb® Polymers: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/purasorb/

Ashland-TM Polymer Products: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/ashland/

BPR Akina's Free Scientific Conference (West Lafayette, 9/30/25: (https://akinainc.com/bprconference/)

Polylactide from PolySciTech used in development of long-term contraceptive device

 

Drug delivery devices are a convenient way to maintain a specific patient’s drug dose in their bloodstream for therapeutic effect. Researchers at Harvard and MIT used PLLA (Cat# AP007) from PolySciTech Division of Akina, Inc. (www.polyscitech.com) to develop a long-lasting contraceptive which enables the delivery of levonorgestrel over multiple years. Read more: Li, Jason, Benjamin G. Clark, Parmiss Khosravi, Colin Cotter, Jia Y. Liang, Susan R. Ling, Yuyan Su et al. "Monolithic Shape-Shifting Absorbable Implants for Long-Term Contraception." bioRxiv (2025): 2025-05. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.18.654764.abstract

“Reversible contraceptives empower women to prevent unintended pregnancies and enable family planning. However, the need for frequent dosing with pills or injections often leads to suboptimal medication adherence and reduced effectiveness–an issue common to many chronic conditions. Long-acting drug delivery implants offer a compelling alternative by enabling autonomous, multi-year drug release, thereby improving real-world adherence and treatment outcomes. However, user acceptability and access are limited by need for invasive insertion and surgical end-of-life removal, particularly in low-resource settings, as well as by limited drug loading and suboptimal drug utilization efficiency, which constrain both the duration of therapy and the range of drugs that can be effectively delivered. To address these limitations, we developed the Monolithic Shape-shifting Absorbable Implants for Chronic Care (MoSAIC) platform–a minimally invasive, fully bioresorbable system that integrates compacted drug formulations with a space-efficient device architecture. This approach reduces implant size, eliminates the need for surgical removal, and prolongs therapeutic duration compared to existing implants. We develop compacted formulations of the contraceptive drug levonorgestrel (LNG), and other poorly water-solubility drugs, demonstrating exceptional drug loading (100% w/w) and multi-year sustained drug release via surface-mediated dissolution in rats. When incorporated into MoSAIC devices, these formulations enable high-efficiency drug loading and zero-order drug release kinetics with geometrically tunable rates and durations. As a result, MoSAIC systems can be designed to be smaller, less invasive, and/or longer lasting than current contraceptive implants such as Jadelle® and Nexplanon®. The MoSAIC platform expands access to reversible contraception and supports long-term medication adherence, with the potential to improve health outcomes and quality of life. More broadly, it provides a flexible approach for delivering other potent, low-solubility therapeutics and lays the foundation for a “dose it and forget it” paradigm in chronic disease management, where adherence is designed into the therapy itself.”

PLLA (Cat# AP007): https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/polyvivo/index.php?highlight=AP007#h

Akina, Inc. launches new GMP manufacturing service available to outside customers https://www.akinainc.com/midwestgmp/

Corbion Purasorb® Polymers: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/purasorb/
Ashland-TM Polymer Products: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/ashland/

BPR Akina's Free Scientific Conference (West Lafayette, 9/30/25: (https://akinainc.com/bprconference/)

mPEG-PLGA from PolySciTech used in development of nanoparticles for Alzheimer’s disease

 

Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative condition which affects the brain. Researchers at North Dakota State University used PEG-PLGA (cat# AK010) to develop nanoparticles for delivery of cannabidiol and ApoE2 as part of Alzheimer’s treatment. This research holds promise to provide treatment against this degenerative brain disease. Read more: Mahanta, Arun Kumar, Bivek Chaulagain, Avinash Gothwal, and Jagdish Singh. "Engineered PLGA Nanoparticles for Brain-Targeted Codelivery of Cannabidiol and pApoE2 through the Intranasal Route for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease." ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering (2025). https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsbiomaterials.5c00465

“Neuroinflammation induced by the accumulation of amyloid beta plaques expedites the progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Reducing Aβ plaques and associated neuroinflammation could potentially help to delay the progression of AD. Cannabidiol (CBD) is well-known for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective nature, and the ApoE2 is effective in binding and clearing Aβ plaques in the brain. Therefore, codelivery of CBD and pApoE2 to the brain would be a promising therapeutic approach in developing effective therapeutics against AD. This research aims to design a nonviral delivery agent that delivers both drugs and genes to the brain through a noninvasive intranasal route. We have developed mPEG–PLGA nanoparticles coated with mannose, a brain-targeting ligand, to deliver CBD and pApoE2. The designed CBD-loaded coated nanoparticles showed an average diameter of 179.3 ± 4.57 nm and a zeta potential of 30.3 ± 6.45 mV. The coated nanoparticles prolonged the CBD release and showed a 93% release of its payload in 30 days. CBD-loaded nanoparticles, as compared to the free CBD, significantly reduced lipopolysaccharide and amyloid beta-induced inflammation in immortalized microglia cells. Cytotoxicity of the designed nanoparticles was assessed against brain endothelial cells (bEND.3) and found to be nontoxic in nature. The mannose-conjugated chitosan-coated nanoparticles were cationic and able to bind with the pApoE2, protecting the encapsulated pApoE2 from enzymatic degradation. Quantitative in vitro transfection efficiency study in primary astrocytes and primary neurons revealed that the ApoE2 expression level is significantly (P < 0.0001) higher for mPLGA-CBD-MC/pApoE2 than the control. The ApoE2 expression level in the brain of C57BL6/J mice was significantly (P < 0.0001) increased after intranasal administration of mPLGA-CBD-MC/pApoE2. Henceforth, the mannose-conjugated chitosan-coated mPLGA nanoparticles could serve as a nonviral delivery system to deliver both drugs and genes to the brain through the intranasal route for the management of AD.”

PLGA (Cat# AK010): https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/polyvivo/index.php?highlight=AK010#h

Akina, Inc. launches new GMP manufacturing service available to outside customers https://www.akinainc.com/midwestgmp/

Corbion Purasorb® Polymers: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/purasorb/

Ashland-TM Polymer Products: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/ashland/

BPR Akina's Free Scientific Conference (West Lafayette, 9/30/25: (https://akinainc.com/bprconference/)

PLGA-PEG-Maleimide from PolySciTech used in development of pulmonary fibrosis treatment

 

Sivelestat is a drug against neutrophil activation to reduce fibrosis. Researchers at Sungkyunkwan University, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Yeungnam University Medical Center, MediArk Inc., Chungbuk National University, Yeungnam University Medical Center used PLGA-PEG-Mal (cat# AI020) from PolySciTech Division of Akina, Inc. (www.polyscitech.com) to develop nanoparticles to deliver Sivelestat for fibrosis treatment. Read more: Lee, Hye-Jin, Na Kyeong Lee, Jisun Kim, Jungbum Kim, Donghyuk Seo, Ha Eun Shin, Jongsu Kim et al. "Sequential nanoparticle therapy targeting neutrophil hyperactivation to prevent neutrophil-induced pulmonary fibrosis." Journal of Nanobiotechnology 23, no. 1 (2025): 1-19. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12951-025-03421-y

“Pulmonary fibrosis, a major complication of severe COVID-19 and post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), is driven by excessive neutrophil activation and the formation of neutrophil extracellular trap (NET). This study presents a sequential nanoparticle-based therapy combining DNase-I-loaded polydopamine nanoparticles (DNase-I@PDA NPs) with Sivelestat-encapsulated PLGA nanoparticles (Siv@PLGA NPs) to target both NETs and neutrophil elastase (NE) activity. DNase-I@PDA NPs were aerosolized to the lungs, facilitating NET clearance and reducing the fibrotic microenvironment, followed by intravenous administration of Siv@PLGA NPs to inhibit NE activity and prevent neutrophil hyperactivation. In a murine model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced pulmonary fibrosis, this dual approach significantly decreased fibrotic lesions, collagen deposition, and myofibroblast activation. Notably, treatment with the nanoparticles led to substantial improvements in pulmonary function. In neutrophils isolated from COVID-19 patients, the combined nanoparticle therapy reduced circulating cell-free DNA, NET, NE, and myeloperoxidase (MPO) levels, while enhancing neutrophil viability and reducing inflammatory responses. These findings highlight the efficacy of DNase-I@PDA NPs and Siv@PLGA NPs in addressing both acute inflammation and chronic fibrosis by simultaneously targeting NET formation and neutrophil hyperactivation. This dual nanoparticle therapy represents a promising clinical strategy for treating COVID-19-associated pulmonary complications, including PASC, by preventing long-term fibrotic progression and promoting lung recovery.”

PLGA (Cat# AI020): https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/polyvivo/index.php?highlight=AI020#h

Akina, Inc. launches new GMP manufacturing service available to outside customers https://www.akinainc.com/midwestgmp/

Corbion Purasorb® Polymers: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/purasorb/

Ashland-TM Polymer Products: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/ashland/

BPR Akina's Free Scientific Conference (West Lafayette, 9/30/25: (https://akinainc.com/bprconference/)