Controlled Heat-Assisted Drug Delivery (CHADD™) Technology
The CHADD unit contains a heat-generating powder that consists of a proprietary mixture of several non-toxic ingredients which produce heat when exposed to air. After an initial rise in temperature, the mild heat generated by the CHADD unit will reach and maintain a controlled temperature range for a predetermined period of time. The CHADD unit may either be incorporated directly into the drug-containing patch (as with Synera®) or placed on top of a transdermal drug patch to initiate a temporary increase in drug concentrations. Depending on the intended application, a CHADD unit can be designed to deliver heat for heat for the desired length of time. Synera was developed using the proprietary CHADD technology.
It is anticipated that the CHADD technology may have a variety of clinically important advantages over traditional patch technologies, including:
More Effective Delivery: Frequently, oral drugs are unable to deliver high concentrations of drug to the desired target site due to poor absorption qualities, first pass metabolism and adverse side effects. Traditional patches may be unable to deliver effective doses of the drug or their use may be associated with unacceptable adverse side effects. It is believed the controlled heat generated by the CHADD unit may be able to deliver higher levels of drugs with fewer systemic adverse side effects associated with oral delivery.
Faster Onset of Action: The CHADD technology may be used with transdermal drug delivery systems to reduce onset time by increasing body fluid circulation and the release rate of the drug into the body. This may be particularly useful for
topically and transdermally delivered drugs that have longer than desirable onset times. Stand-alone CHADD units can be placed over an existing drug patch to rapidly increase the blood levels of the drug from the patch.
Zars Pharma has conducted several clinical studies evaluating the impact of heat on the transdermal delivery of certain transdermal patches. Results from those studies indicate that heat can produce increases in the rate of drug delivered and the total amount of drug delivered from these patches.
Reduced Side Effects: Many transdermal drug delivery systems rely on the use of skin permeation enhancers that can irritate, damage or otherwise compromise the skin. The proprietary CHADD technology uses controlled heat to enhance permeation in a way that may be less irritating to the skin than certain chemical permeation enhancers. Additionally, the enhanced permeation provided by the CHADD technology, may allow the use of drugs in patch formats that otherwise may not be therapeutically effective in a traditional patch due to either slow drug absorption or the need for excessive permeation enhancers.