Cornerstone Pharmaceuticals, a Cranberry, N.J.-based cancer metabolism therapeutics company, announced positive results of a preclinical toxicity study of azide drug-loaded Emulsiphan nano emulsions conducted with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) under a collaboration agreement. Emulsiphan is Cornerstone's proprietary nanoparticle drug delivery system.

The preclinical study, which looked at the safety of azide drug-loaded Emulsiphan nano emulsions, is the first step in a collaboration between Cornerstone and NCI to apply Cornerstone's drug delivery platform to a class of novel chemotherapy agents.

Selective drug delivery remains a formidable challenge in the successful treatment of cancer.  Often, just a small percentage of the active ingredients in chemotherapies administered to treat tumors ever reach the desired target within cancer cells and considerable amounts of drug spread to healthy cells and tissue.

Emulsiphan is a novel, cancer selective drug-delivery nanotechnology that aims to deposit cancer-fighting drugs directly into cancer cells—not just the tumor mass—by focusing on the distinct metabolism of these cells.  The nanotechnology is designed to maximize drug concentration into tumor cells, thereby enhancing the anti-cancer compounds' selectivity and specificity, leading to a potentially safer and more effective cancer treatment.