Patient Centricity by Prodrug Design

The biopharmaceutical industry has brought on many aspects of patient centricity, ranging from clinical trial design to incorporating digital health in outcomes. Some companies, however, are taking patient centricity to another level by utilizing prodrug technology to design better drugs. Elegant in concept, the therapeutic rationale of a prodrug is to improve the physicochemical, biopharmaceutical, or pharmacokinetic properties of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). One such company, KemPharm, Inc., has built its business on the significant opportunity that prodrugs offer, both in the development of improved versions of FDA-approved drugs as well as the ability to generate prodrug versions of existing compounds that may have applications for new disease indications. Travis Mickle, CEO of KemPharm, will discuss his company’s use of prodrugs, the business opportunities prodrugs represent, and how prodrugs are helping to improve patient centricity.