The Problem: Oral Therapies as Current Treatments
The bladder’s inner lining (urothelium) carpets this urine reservoir and is the seat of common diseases and symptoms such as urgency to urinate. Treatment targets are situated directly on its exposed surface. Oral drugs have to go through the whole-body and circulatory system to get to that site to treat the problems. But it can be accessed directly avoiding so many common flaws and pitfalls associated with oral treatments. Follow the oral drugs:
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Swallowed medications enter the digestive system via the gut where they are absorbed into the blood and then transported to the liver where they may be altered by the liver’s metabolism before circulating throughout the body to be picked up by receptive tissues.
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The medication then typically gets gradually cleared out of the system by the kidneys and finally dripped into the bladder, an organ that will expel them when the person feels the urge. Given that each person’s body acts in a slightly different way, the end result of this journey is that medications reach the bladder (as well as other parts of the body) in varying amounts therefore with varying degrees of effectiveness. This represents one of the fundamental flaws with bladder treatments currently on the market; a flaw that dtb-instilla rectifies.
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Taken Orally
Target
Enters the digestive tract
Enters the blood then the liver
Every tissue (heart, brain, eyes)
Filtered by Kidney
drip-fed into diluting urine pool
Further Key Unmet Needs
Urinary tract diseases and disorders are becoming more prevalent due to our aging population. The urinary bladder is rich in molecular receptors and acts as a barrier to the absorption of urinary contents in the bladder cavity. Despite rigorous hygienic standards, about 10% of patients who are catheterized develop urinary tract infections (UTIs).
Until now, a safe and effective means for instilling medications into the bladder has been lacking. However, UroPharma’s patented direct-to-bladder (dtb) approach (dtb-instilla) enables both therapeutic and prophylactic agents to be delivered directly into the urinary bladder.
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UroPharma is focused on treating a broad range of urinary tract disorders with its dtb platform to increase dosing accuracy, improve reliability, and provide safety while reducing side effects associated with oral or intravenous treatments. Not only will this minimize UTI risks associated with extended length of catheter usage but ultimately, through clinician-led dtb administration, enable patients to self-administer treatments comfortably, conveniently, safely, and accurately while improving outcomes and reducing the cost of care.