Starton, Bend team on proprietary oral sustained-release dosage form of lenalidomide

Biotech company Starton Therapeutics has announced a collaboration agreement with pharmaceutical services partner Bend Bioscience, who will provide drug delivery R&D support and manufacturing capabilities for Starton’s lead candidate, STAR-LLD — a proprietary oral sustained-release dosage form of lenalidomide.

Under the agreement, Bend will develop an optimized oral STAR-LLD and lead the scale-up and commercial manufacturing efforts. Overall, the collaboration between the two companies is aimed at enhancing the lead candidate’s performance and scalability.

STAR-LLD is a continuous delivery lenalidomide in development to expand and replace the standard-of-care for the most common blood cancers, multiple myeloma (MM), and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Starton said it entered the strategic partnership based on Bend’s expertise in controlled release formulation and analytical method development, as well as clinical and commercial manufacturing of solid oral dosage forms.

“We are excited to enter into this agreement with Bend for the development of an oral sustained release formulation of STAR-LLD,” Starton CEO Pedro Lichtinger said in a statement. “This oral formulation of STAR-LLD not only has the potential to demonstrate superior tolerability and efficacy but could also improve patient compliance and convenience.”