Polyrizon Surges On Positive Mucoadhesion Results For Naloxone Hydrogel

(RTTNews) - Polyrizon Ltd. (PLRZ), a biotechnology company developing intranasal products, reported encouraging preclinical findings showing that its proprietary Trap and Target naloxone hydrogel adheres to nasal tissue longer than an approved and marketed intranasal naloxone spray product. Shares are up over 155% at $18 in premarket trading today.

Naloxone is an opioid antagonist designed to rapidly reverse opioid overdose. Emergent BioSolutions' Narcan Nasal Spray, Hikma Pharma's Kloxxado Nasal Spray and Harm Reduction Therapeutics' RiVive Nasal Spray are some of the intranasal naloxone spray products approved in the U.S.

In an ex-vivo rabbit nasal mucosa model, researchers compared the persistence of Polyrizon's hydrogel formulation to a commercial intranasal naloxone spray product by applying each formulation to mucosal tissue and washing with Simulated Nasal Electrolyte Solution (SNES) over 30 minutes. Measurement of residual fluorescence revealed that Polyrizon's hydrogel maintained significantly higher values of the fluorescence marker than the commercial product, indicating notably stronger and long-lasting mucosal adhesion.

Higher mucoadhesion levels support potentially prolonged contact at the nasal deposition site and potentially enhanced bioavailability.

Improved mucoadhesion is a crucial factor for intranasal drug delivery for emergency treatments such as opioid overdose reversal, as improved residence time at the nasal deposition site can support more reliable absorption and potentially faster onset of action.

Commenting on the findings, Tomer Izraeli, CEO of Polyrizon, said, "We believe that these outcomes further validate the potential of our T&T hydrogel platform and highlight its unique advantages in intranasal drug delivery."

PLRZ closed Wednesday's trading at $7.09, down 3.27%.