Targeted Delivery of Abaloparatide to Spinal Fusion Site Accelerates Fusion Process in Rats.

Spinal fusions are performed to treat congenital skeletal malformations, spondylosis, degenerative disk diseases, and other pathologies of the vertebrae that can be resolved by reducing motion between neighboring vertebrae. Unfortunately, up to 100,000 fusion procedures fail per year in the United States, suggesting that efforts to develop new approaches to improve spinal fusions are justified. We have explored whether the use of an osteotropic oligopeptide to target an attached bone anabolic agent to the fusion site might be exploited to both accelerate the mineralization process and improve the overall success rate of spinal fusions.

An engineered dual function peptide to repair fractured bones.

Targeted drug delivery, often referred to as "smart" drug delivery, is a process whereby a therapeutic drug is delivered to specific parts of the body in a manner that increases its concentration at the desired sites relative to others. This approach is poised to revolutionize medicine as exemplified by the recent FDA approval of Cytalux (FDA approves pioneering drug for ovarian cancer surgery - Purdue University News) which is a folate-receptor targeted intraoperative near infrared (NIR) imaging agent that was developed in our laboratories. Fracture-associated morbidities and mortality affect a significant portion of world population.