Sustained-release drug delivery is a field where significant progress is being made that increases the efficacy of the medicines, improves treatment adherence and attains greater efficiency for the healthcare system. Laboratorios Farmacéuticos ROVI’s goal in launching the LAI Challenge is to redefine the sustained release of injectable drugs.

With this initiative, ROVI wishes to seek and promote innovative solutions that will reinforce and transform injectable technologies for the sustained release of medicines. To this end, it is launching an open innovation challenge, in which sector professionals may submit projects that provide a technological solution.

Ibon Gutierro Adúriz, the company’s R&D Director, says that “ROVI is a competitive company that bets on generating value, expanding knowledge and seeking new and innovative therapeutic solutions, and we know that the best way of doing this is to work with the innovation ecosystem.”

The challenge poses the following question: “How could we improve treatments by using sustained-release injectable drug delivery technologies?” The purpose of this initiative is to encourage progress in the field of sustained-release injectable technologies. Specifically, LAI Challenge seeks solutions that improve sustained-release injectable drug delivery technologies in one of the following three areas:

• Ready-to-use technologies that do not require reconstitution (injectable single-dose technological solutions that are stable at room temperature and do not require handling or intervention by a healthcare professional).
• Injectable technologies to release proteins or other biological products that are technically viable, longlasting and stable.
• Injectable technologies that allow high doses of drugs or prodrugs to be used in order to reduce the administration frequency while maintaining an injection volume appropriate to the route of administration.

With this project, ROVI opens up a new channel for collaboration with sector professionals.

The following entities may take part in the LAI Challenge:

• Among others, research centres, universities, spin-offs, start-ups and national or international companies who are seeking partners to launch their products in the national and international markets. They must own either a technology under development that has been evaluated by, at least, proof of concept in animals or a developed product..
• Among others, research centres, universities, spin-offs, start-ups and national or international companies that own a product/service that is already on the market whose technology they wish to sell or licence.
• Innovative solutions, projects or technologies capable of addressing the challenge and resolving one or more of the uses proposed in the legal terms and conditions of this initiative.

The winners of the challenge will have the opportunity to develop their idea with the guidance and advice of ROVI professionals, as well as the latter’s knowledge of the regulatory, legal and operational aspects of the sector.

Persons and entities who are interested in taking part in the LAI Challenge may consult the terms and conditions and enter through https://laichallenge.rovi.es/en/. The deadline for registration is from November 24 to January 31, 2023. .

Open innovation

An open innovation programme like the LAI Challenge seeks for the company promoting the challenge to collaborate with external players in order to find new ideas and processes. These players may be research centres, universities, companies created in the university sphere (spin-offs), start-ups, and national or international companies, among others. This type of initiative allows new and better solutions to corporate problems and other stumbling blocks to be found more swiftly and flexibly. In addition, they benefit both the company calling for proposals and the participants, who find an opportunity to transfer their ideas to the market and have the advice and knowledge of sector professionals.

“At ROVI, we consider R&D activities as one of the main drivers of the company’s strategic growth. In this respect, we have developed a leading-edge line of research in the field of sustained-release drug delivery, in which we want to continue to grow, always betting on collaboration with research centres, start-ups and spin-offs to obtain the best advances”, said Ibon Gutierro Adúriz, the company’s R&D Director.