Nova Laboratories Ltd.

The aim of this questionnaire-based survey was to determine the ‘acceptability’ of Xaluprine®, a new oral liquid formulation of mercaptopurine, when administered chronically to children during the maintenance treatment phase of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

This was a single centre survey of children (aged 3 to 16 years) and their parents at a routine follow-up visit during the maintenance phase of acute lymphoblastic leukaemica treatment. The questionnaire probed for their views on overall acceptability such as taste, smell, incidences of vomiting, ease and willingness to take Xaluprine® on a daily basis, and utilised a 5-point facial hedonic scale (1 = bad, 5 = good) as well as open/closed questions.

Twenty-two children were recruited; 17 (77%) scored taste between 3 and 5 (‘okay’ to ‘good’) and 20 (91%) scored smell between 3 and 5. Only four children (18%) reported an aftertaste. Of the five children (23%) who scored taste as 1 or 2 (‘bad’), three found taking all oral medicines difficult. Six children (27%) reported vomiting, but this was not considered related to Xaluprine®. Seven children (32%) sometimes complained that they did not want to take Xaluprine®; 15 (68%) never complained. In response to the question, ‘How easy is it for you to take Xaluprine®?’ 18 children (82%) reported that it was ‘Easy all the time.’ This was more favourable than other oral liquid medicines that they were taking concurrently.

The results of this survey show that Xaluprine® has good overall acceptability in the paediatric population and suggests that Xaluprine® is an important, alternative, age-appropriate formulation of mercaptopurine.

A sucrose-trehalose glass film dried onto a filter can preserve the activity of two potential live viral vaccine vectors at elevated temperatures for up to 6 months.

Cambridge Biostability Ltd has developed stable, dry formulations of vaccines and drugs that contain the actives stabilized in water-soluble glass, together with systems to automate their injection and reactivation. One generic process consists of stabilized actives in glass microspheres, which are suspended in biocompatible anhydrous liquids where they do not dissolve, forming two-phase liquids. When injected, the glass microspheres dissolve in body water, releasing potent vaccines, and the anhydrous liquids are either exhaled in the breath or rapidly metabolized. These stable liquid formulations can be stored at a high temperature for at least 3 years, are completely resistant to freeze damage and can be injected without any preparation at the point of use. This is facilitated by a simple, cheap, disposable injection device that requires no training to use yet safely injects the vaccine without a visible needle. This device can be used with conventional liquid vaccines as well as with the stable liquid vaccines described herein. A second process stores the vaccines in a delicate web of glass impregnated in a fibrous membrane in the hub of a hypodermic needle. The vaccine is automatically redissolved and flushed into the patient when the needle is attached to a syringe and 0.5 ml of sterile saline is injected. These products promise to radically improve the way vaccinations and therapeutic drugs are delivered worldwide.