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Medicine made by MegaPro Biomedical performs new breakthrough for the benefit of patients with chronic kidney disease

Fresh talent from the Industrial Technology Research complements key innovation to the biotechnology industry

Medicine made by MegaPro Biomedical performs new breakthrough for the benefit of patients with chronic kidney disease

     New breakthrough in the development of iron supplements for chronic kidney disease! The newly created biotech company "MegaPro Biomedical" of the Industrial Technology Research Institute announced its formal establishment on March 19 to supplement the medicine with fast and effective iron supplements to benefit patients with chronic kidney disease. MegaPro Biomedical will focus on the development of iTrast nano iron oxide for chronic kidney disease, and with a single injection and hypoallergenic properties, to attack the market of iron deficiency anemia treatment for chronic kidney disease.

     Tsai Qingyan, chairman of the ITRI, said that the difference between ITRI entrepreneurship and ordinary startups is the promotion of diffusion in innovation achievements with "thick entrepreneurship".  Thick entrepreneurship takes a long time to brew high-end technical strengths and capabilities, and the relative risk is also relatively high; since 2011, the Institute of Industrial Technology Research has spawned 33 new ventures in the fields of electro-optics, information communication, materials, Biomedical, machinery, green energy and cross-cutting fields. The core team of MegaPro Biomedical Co., Ltd. comes from the professionals of the Institute of Material Chemistry and Biomedical Research Institute of the Industrial Technology Research Institute.  Based on the results derived from the scientific and technological projects, it has been developed for the treatment of iron deficiency anemia in chronic kidney disease. The ITRI looks forward to promoting the transformation and upgrading of the industrial structure through the establishment of new start-up companies, enhancing the added value of the industry, and enabling Taiwan to move towards an innovative economy.

     Jiang Weifeng, chairman of MegaPro Biomedical, states that patients with chronic kidney disease generally have symptoms of iron deficiency anemia.  About 450 million people worldwide suffer from stage 3 to stage 5 chronic kidney disease, of which 40% must use injections for iron deficiency anemia In terms of iron supplements, it is expected that the world's injection iron supplements will reach a market size of US$1.6 billion in 2015. In Taiwan, according to statistics from the National Health Insurance Agency, the population density of kidney dialysis ranks first in the world. There are currently about 70,000 kidney dialysis patients in Taiwan, which is growing at a rate of nearly 3,000 a year. ITrast, which is being developed by MegaPro Biomedical, can meet these rapidly increasing iron supplement needs with a single injection of iron supplements, and can provide an easier solution for these chronic kidney disease patients.  MegaPro Biomedical will focus on the development of niche drugs in the future, focusing on the value added in human clinical and pre-clinical trials, providing nanoparticles and nanocell front-end biotechnology, and licensing the products to pharmaceutical companies. More pre-clinical drugs will be released to contribute to medical treatments.

     Dr. Jassy Wang, general manager of MegaPro Biomedical, said that in the past, patients with chronic kidney disease had to go to the hospital for iron ion injections every or every other week. A course of treatment needed to be divided into 5-10 injections, which could take 2-3 months and having to risk high ion-hypersensitivity during this time, which is quite inconvenient for patients with chronic kidney disease. MegaPro’s iTrast is an iron oxide nanoparticle, which can be injected all at once, does not require fractional treatment, and holds high biocompatibility and low toxicity qualities. It is easily converted into ferritin in the liver for storage. When the body needs it, it releases iron into the blood to achieve the purpose of treating anemia. Animal experiments for the nano iron oxide are expected to be completed in the second half of this year, and clinical experiments will also be conducted to swoop in the world’s intravenous iron supplements market, which can reach up to more than US$1.6 billion annually.

source: https://www.itri.org.tw/chi/Content/NewsLetter/Contents.aspx?SiteID=1&MmmID=620605426331276153&MSid=653412113532735761