A Kelowna-based biotech company is leading the way in how our bodies process medication, helping to make hypertension and antiviral medications more effective.

Lexaria Bioscience develops technology that can be used to make different medications work more effectively. CEO Chris Bunka said Lexariasa国际传媒檚 leading technology is called DehydraTECH, which helps the body sa国际传媒渁ltersa国际传媒� the way it detects the drug while itsa国际传媒檚 in a personsa国际传媒檚 gastrointestinal system.

sa国际传媒淲hat happens is DehydraTECH allows the drug to take a shortcut and bypass the liver, get in your lymphatic system and drop into blood circulation,sa国际传媒� he said.

sa国际传媒淭hatsa国际传媒檚 really the secret behind our speed and efficacy in delivering a bigger fraction of the drug into your bloodstream.sa国际传媒�

This means that not only does the drug get into a personsa国际传媒檚 bloodstream faster, but a higher proportion of it is actually used. When this happens, Bunka added that this also means there are fewer side effects.

sa国际传媒淥ne of the reasons people hate taking any drugs is side effects. It might cause diarrhea, headaches, sleepinesssa国际传媒� but because (with DehydraTECH) we can use a smaller quantity of drug to achieve the same result, side effects go down.sa国际传媒�

DehydraTECH is already available in limited quantities, mostly in the U.S. and mainly used for oral cannabinoids. Now, Lexaria is studying how it can use DehydraTECH for oral nicotine, hypertension medication, as well as COVID-19 antiviral medication.

If the technology is used for treatment, that would mean a more affordable hypertension drug that is safe and easily accessible for more people.

So how does Lexariasa国际传媒檚 technology work?

It involves combining an active pharmaceutical ingredient with fatty acid oil, then mixing it with a common carrier ingredient like tapioca starch or gum arabic. Then, the DehydraTECH process is applied, which results in a powder or liquid, which can then be used in a pill, tablet or oil.

Bunka said they are holding three clinical trials for hypertension medication in Europe this year.

sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e filling up our binders and creating lots of data and informationsa国际传媒� so when we knock on the doors of Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson, we can show them what we can do with their drugs,sa国际传媒� he said.

Hypertension may be their focus for now, but Bunka added he hopes their work with antivirals can also help people who need it, especially in areas where COVID-19 vaccinations are low.

sa国际传媒淣o matter where you are, there is no way that all the people in these populations will be vaccinated,sa国际传媒� he said.

sa国际传媒淏ecause of that, there will always be a need to treat people who have come down with COVID, so wesa国际传媒檙e working on a number of drugs to treat COVID symptoms.sa国际传媒�

Once trials for Lexariasa国际传媒檚 hypertension medication are finished, it will be submitted for approval and be made available in the U.S. first.

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twila.amato@blackpress.ca
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