February 24, 2017
By Anna Herd
OXFORD, Miss. – As part of its roster of scientific research, the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy will join technology group STEERLife in a four-year collaborative project to revamp pharmaceutical drug development and manufacturing.
Murthy
STEERLife designs, creates and implements technology and processes for improving the quality of pharmaceutical products. The company approached Narasimha Murthy, professor of pharmaceutics and drug delivery, and Michael Repka, professor and chair of the Department of Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery, about combining its industrial capabilities with the professors’ academic expertise and in-depth research to develop high quality pharmaceutical products.
Repka is the director of the Pii Center for Pharmaceutical Technology within the School of Pharmacy. The Pii Center primarily interfaces with internal and external parters to create new pharmaceutical products using its hot-melt extrusion technology.
“[This collaboration] creates an opportunity for the development of solutions that could transform manufacturing and improve quality and compliance,” said Dipak Chattaraj, chairman of STEER America, STEERLife’s U.S.-based operation. “Further, it allows for the creation of innovative drug delivery platforms that are far more convenient to patients.”
Throughout the partnership, STEERLife will provide exclusive technology, equipment and training to the school, as well as sponsor doctoral research programs and mentor students pursuing graduate degrees in research.
“Our mission at the university has always been to improve health, well-being and quality of life by educating, conducting research and engaging in service,” Murthy said. “The partnership with STEERLife gives our students direct access to cutting-edge technology that opens up a world of new opportunities in innovative pharmaceutical applications that could positively impact consumers.”