Nanotechnology Now - Press Release: NanoPacific Holdings, Inc. Announces Two New Exclusive Licensed Technologies Invented at UCLA

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Nanoemulsions and Polypeptides enable novel nano delivery mechanisms

NanoPacific Holdings, Inc. Announces Two New Exclusive Licensed Technologies Invented at UCLA – Nanoemulsions and Polypeptides

LOS ANGELES, CA | Posted on October 23rd, 2008

As part of its strategic plan, NanoPacific Holdings, Inc. (NPH) has executed two additional licenses with UCLA for nanoemulsons (including double nanoemulsions) and polypeptides. These nano technologies are highly adaptable and may be used in a variety of applications. Under the terms of agreement between NPH and UCLA, NPH will have an exclusive worldwide license to key intellectual property. These are integral components of NPH's nano controlled-delivery platform and provide complimentary novel technologies to its porous nanoparticles, previously licensed from UCLA, capable of storing and selectively releasing guest molecules via nanoscale gates that can be opened and closed at will on the surface of the nanoparticles. This will significantly expand NPH's nano controlled-delivery capabilities.

There are unique features to these technologies. As recently published in Nature, double nanoemulsions consist of many nanoscale double droplets, such as water droplets contained within oil droplets that have been formed and dispersed in an aqueous solution. Although larger double emulsions have been known for many years, achieving stable sub-100 nanometer diameters for both the inner and outer droplets is an important breakthrough that opens up exciting dual-cargo delivery applications in pharmaceuticals. Designer co-polypeptide stabilizer molecules, along with advanced emulsification methods, made this breakthrough possible. In addition to double nanoemulsions, single nanoemulsions of simple oil droplets dispersed in water offer tunable mechanical and optical properties useful for industrial materials at lower cost. Whether single or double, nanoemulsions are highly adaptable liquid delivery systems that can be tailored to provide desirable properties for a broad range of potential applications, from simple cosmetics to advanced drug delivery. "These are exciting times-- as novel emulsification methods are combined with advances in molecular design, nanoemulsions can be fashioned with extraordinary properties and potential commercial applications," according to Prof. Thomas G. Mason, UCLA Associate Professor of Chemistry and Physics, and John McTague Chair of Chemistry.

The polypeptide technology covers novel methodology for synthesis of well-defined block copolypeptides, synthetic polymers that are made up of the natural building blocks of proteins but which can be produced with the same ease as conventional plastics. These materials can be tailored to assemble into nanoscale structures for encapsulation and delivery applications, and are easily functionalized to obtain stimuli responsiveness and functionality for interacting with biological systems. Examples include polypeptide vesicles that form robust protein-like nanoshells for drug delivery, and hydrogels, whose nanofibrous structure can serve as a delivery depot or bioactive scaffold in therapeutic and cosmetic formulations. "The field of synthetic polypeptide materials has reached a level of sophistication where one can design structured and functional materials that are tuned for specific applications." says Timothy Deming, Professor of Bioengineering, and Chairman of the Bioengineering Department in the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at UCLA.

Both Mason and Deming have developed technologies with interesting capabilities. We look forward to following the progression of these technologies into the marketplace to benefit the economy and society at large," said Earl Weinstein, Assistant Director of UCLA's Office of Intellectual Property.

"We are very pleased to have exclusively licensed these breakthrough technologies from UCLA. The work of Professors Mason and Deming is extraordinary and novel. The nanoemulsions and polypeptides are a strategic fit and perfect compliment to our mesoporous silica nano machines. This will enable us to develop hard and soft nano delivery devices or hybrid structures, some of which are biodegradable. These technologies facilitate NPH's quest to be the premier nano controlled-delivery company. This now opens up to NanoPacific a broader range of sophisticated and targeted applications in the Biomedical (diagnostics and therapeutics), Cosmetics, Industrial, Environmental and Food and Agricultural markets," stated Joseph A. Boystak, Chairman & Co-CEO.

"We value the relationship with UCLA. We will continue to work closely with premier faculty, fund sponsored research with the unwavering objective of bringing this important research from the bench to the commercial market," said Michael B. Flesch, Vice Chairman & Co-CEO.

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About NanoPacific Holdings, Inc.
NPH is a privately-held research and development company based in Los Angeles, California focused on commercializing its unique patented nanotechnology portfolio which it has exclusively licensed from UCLA. The company intends to create the premier nano controlled-delivery company through its robust platform technologies for various applications in the Biomedical, Cosmetics, Industrial, Environmental and Food and Agricultural markets. NPH intends to develop a series of commercial partnerships or joint ventures with industry leaders in its target markets as a means to develop and distribute these technologies and products, worldwide.

he California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) was established in 2000 as a joint enterprise between UCLA and UC Santa Barbara, with $100 million in funding coming from the state of California and an additional $250 million in federal research grants and industry funding. The CNSI is a multidisciplinary research institute whose mission is to encourage university collaboration with industry and enable the rapid commercialization of discoveries in nanosystems. CNSI members at UCLA include some of the world’s preeminent scientists working in five targeted areas of nanosystems-related research: renewable energy; environmental nanotechnology and nanotoxicology; nanobiotechnology and biomaterials; nanomechanical and nanofluidic systems; and nanoelectronics, photonics and architectonics. For additional information, visit the CNSI Web site at www.cnsi.ucla.edu.

UCLA is California’s largest university, with an enrollment of nearly 37,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The UCLA College of Letters and Science and the university’s 11 professional schools feature renowned faculty and offer more than 300 degree programs and majors. UCLA is a national and international leader in the breadth and quality of its academic, research, health care, cultural, continuing education and athletic programs. Four alumni and five faculty have been awarded the Nobel Prize.

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Contacts:
NanoPacific Holdings, Inc.
Diego Benitez, Ph.D
310-268-9494 Ext. 21

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