The University of Manchester

Ian Stratford

Sally Freeman

David Blake

Mohammed Jaffor

Margaret Adams, Legal Representative

Matthew Naylor

Ged Adams

Christopher Morris

Declan Naughton

Mohammed Jaffar

The invention provides a method of targeting a drug to areas of hypoxic and/or ischemic tissue within the body in which the desired drug species is linked to a non-cytotoxic bioreductive carrier. Also provided by the invention are novel bioreductive conjugates comprising a non-cytotoxic bioreductive moiety with linked-thereto at least one therapeutic agent. The compounds of the invention are particularly suitable for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other arthritic conditions, diabetes, atherosclerosis, stroke, sepsis, Alzheimer's disease and other neurological disorders, cancer, kidney disease, digestive diseases, liver disease, chronic periodontitis or ischemia following tissue transplantation.

Drug targeting

A bioreductive conjugate comprises a bioreductive moiety with at least one therapeutic agent linked thereto and physiologically acceptable derivatives thereof. The bioreductive moiety incorporates an aromatic ring substituted with a nitro group and the conjugate is such that bioreduction of the nitro group causes release of the therapeutic agent by a through bond elimination and the residue of the bioreductive moiety to undergo an intramolecular cyclization reaction in which the nitrogen of the original nitro group provides an atom of the thus formed ring.

Growing community of inventors

Hope Valley, United Kingdom

Ian Stratford