Injectable, Ultra-Long-Acting Implants - The Benhabbour Research Laboratory

Ultra-Long-Acting Tunable Biodegradable and Removable Controlled Release Implants for Drug Delivery

Our lab has pioneered the development of an ultra-long-acting injectable formulation that forms an in-situ forming implant (ISFI) once injected into the subcutaneous environment. This formulation offers the ability to integrate multiple drugs in a single injection, the ability to deliver drugs for several weeks or months, and the ability to be removed if required in order to terminate the treatment. This ISFI formulation can be fine-tuned to deliver drugs at targeted release kinetics. Our lab is investigating this formulation for HIV prevention and treatment, as a multipurpose prevention technology (MPT) and for other indications including contraception.

S. Rahima Benhabbour*, Martina Kovarova, Clinton Jones, Daijha J. Copeland, Roopali Shrivastava, Michael D. Swanson, Craig Sykes, Phong T. Ho, Mackenzie L. Cottrell, Anush Sridharan, Orrin Thayer, Julie M. Long, Daria J. Hazuda, Paul A. Dayton, Russell J. Mumper, Angela D. M. Kashuba, J. Victor Garcia*. Ultra-Long-Acting Tunable, Biodegradable, and Removable Implant for Controlled Release of Drug Delivery, Nature Communications, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12141-5.

Martina Kovarova, S. Rahima Benhabbour*, Ivana Massud, Rae Ann Spagnuolo, Brianna Skinner, Caroline E. Baker, Craig Sykes, Katie R. Mollan, Angela D. M. Kashuba, J. Gerardo García-Lerma, Russell J. Mumper, and J Victor Garcia*. Ultra-long-acting removable drug delivery system for HIV treatment and prevention, Nature Communications, 2018, 9:4156, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-06490-w