Opportunities and challenges in commercial pharmaceutical liposome applications

In the 1980s, the center of entrepreneurial activity for the application of liposome science to medicine took the form of a company called Vestar Inc. (which became NeXstar Pharmaceuticals Inc., and eventually a division of Gilead Sciences, with merger and acquisition activity). This company was formed from science initially developed at the California Institute of Technology and the City of Hope, and involving several other local academic and treatment centers. This company eventually produced two commercial liposomal therapeutics, and created a particular paradigm of formulation goals, formulation development, characterization, and production unique among the set of companies that emerged around the same time. A number of clinical candidates were also developed, but failed to achieve commercialization. Nevertheless, several of these provide still relevant lessons and guidance for the field. Key adaptations of this technology to lower cost applications have also been carried out and are examined.