PGC Hydrophobic Core (PGC-HC)

PGC Hydrophobic Core (PGC-HC) is a PGC copolymer where the reversible binding moiety is a hydrophobic molecule, such as a fatty acid chain. In essence, it is a reverse phase chromatography column in nanoparticle form. This technology is protected by specific IP developed at PharmaIN, and was engineered to bind with high affinity to drugs with significant hydrophobic regions, such as α-helices.

PGC-HC has been used to formulate Glucagon like peptide-1 (GLP-1), a human hormone involved in glucose control, insulin secretion, and gastric emptying. GLP-1 is a 3.5 kDa peptide with significant hydrophobic character, and binds with low nM affinity to PGC-HC carriers. PGC-HC has also been used to formulate GLP-2, Leptin, IAP, and VIP.

Dissociation constant (Kd) of GLP1 to C18-20PLPEG5-55
Carrier as Determined by Scatchard Plot

A scatchard plot of PGC GLP-1 binding describes three
discrete binding sites with a range of dissociation constants.