UC San Francisco has found a sponsor to support its research into delivering pills filled with microscopic drug-laden adhesive patches. Zcube, the corporate venture arm of Italian pharmaceutical company Zambon, has agreed to sponsor UCSF research over a two-year period as part of a new license agreement, the university said today. The work will initially be done in Tejal Desai’s lab, where researchers are attempting to deliver drugs directly to the small intestine and colon, as a way to combat various diseases, including colitis and irritable bowel syndrome. Financial terms of the license agreement weren’t disclosed, although Zambon contributed $1 million a year ago to the Mission Bay Capital Fund, which is designed to invest in spinoff companies from the University of California system.
