AFYX Therapeutics announced today that a study observed successful transmucosal delivery of a corticosteroid with its Rivelin patch.

The Rivelin clobetasol patch (Rivelin-CLO) is a novel adhesive patch designed to deliver a therapeutic agent to wet tissue surfaces. The study, published in The European Journal of Oral Sciences, was the first to show the successful transmucosal delivery of the corticosteroid using electrospun patch technology, according to a news release.

Rivelin-CLO proved to deliver the drug and the study showed that the drug retained its anti-inflammatory activity. The biodegradable, oral adhesive patch is designed for local delivery of clobetasol to treat symptomatic oral lichen planus (OLP) lesions.

The patch utilizes electrospinning technology to adhere to the oral cavity for an average of 90 minutes. It can adhere to other wet tissue areas for approximately 9.5 hours while delivering a steady dose of therapeutics to the lesion.

AFYX recently completed a Phase 2 trial for Rivelin-CLO, administering a 20μg dose of the drug. The trial revealed a statistically significant improvement in the ulcer area and continued to show improvement through the end of four weeks, AFYX said.

“Rivelin-CLO has the power to deliver targeted, localized quantities of clobetasol to diseased tissue in the mouth for patients with OLP, a condition for which there are no approved therapies,” AFYX Therapeutics CEO Dr. Nishan de Silva said in the release. “This new mucoadhesive patch technology holds great promise for the treatment of patients with mucosal diseases. These are conditions which may benefit from treatments such as corticosteroids, anesthetics and analgesics, all of which require specific, controlled delivery directly to wet tissue.”