DermaFoamix-Emollient, alcohol-free, emulsion-based foam formulations for dermatological treatment at Foamix

Why Foamix?
There is a new trend in dermatology, whereby active agents are included in foam vehicles, in order to improve treatment and achieve better compliance.

The Foamix unique alcohol-free foam formulations, which contain skin conditioning oily substances, are light and fluffy. They spread easily onto the large areas and penetrate quickly, without leaving any greasy residues. In usability tests, patients found the Foamix foams easily spreadable and highly penetrable. They noted the lack of sticky and greasy feeling and shiny look as a major advantage. Because of these properties, patients prefer the foam to the traditional creams and ointments.

DermaFoamix™ Properties and Advantages at a Glance

DermaFoamix™ is oil-containing, alcohol-free breakable foam.
DermaFoamix™ is easily spreadable, to enable facile coverage of large skin areas.
DermaFoamix™ absorbs quickly into the skin.
DermaFoamix™ contains a hydrophobic solvent, e.g., mineral oil, emollient oils (e.g., IPM and MCT oil), vegetable oil, silicone oil, etc.).
DermaFoamix™ can be used as a carrier for all sorts of dermatological drugs, including water-soluble, oil-soluble and particulate compounds. Examples of candidate drugs include:

Corticosteroids
Antibacterial drugs
Anti-fungal drugs
Anti-viral drugs
Local anesthetics
Vitamins – Vitamin A, Vitamin B species, Vitamin E and Vitamin D derivatives
Anti-allergic agents
Hair growth agents
Insect killing and repellent agents

In addition to the active drug, the foam can also contain sunscreen agents.
No alcohol in DermaFoamix™ means lowered opportunity for irritation
DermaFoamix™ contains non-ionic surfactants, which are not irritant (unlike anionic surfactants)
DermaFoamix™ foams have specific gravity of about 0.1 gr/mL, enabling effective and economical spreading of the drug on large surfaces.

We believe that our proprietary foam delivery system has important treatment, cosmetic, and functional advantages over conventional delivery systems. The unique foam formulation liquefies when applied to the skin.

Patient preferred
A panel of volunteers was requested to apply Foamix Foam on one arm and a commercial ointment, in a randomized investigator’s blind fashion. They were asked to describe their feeling about the ease of application, ease of spreading, spreadability and penetrability of each of the products and to give their general rating for each of the products on a scale of 0-3 (0 = poor; 1=barely acceptable; 2=acceptable and 3=excellent).

As demonstrated in the following table, the Foamix preparation, obtained higher scores in all aspects of the test.

Property	Foamix Preparation Mean Rating	Commercial Ointment Mean Rating
Ease of application	2.3	1.6
Ease of spreading	2.5	1.9
Spreadability	2.9	1.2
Penetrability (Patient’s experience)	2.0	1.5
Lack of sticky feeling	2.4	1.0
Lack of greasy feeling	2.2	1.0
Lack of shiny look	1.9	1.4
Overall rating	2.5	1.4

Efficacy
A panel of psoriasis and atopic dermatitis patients was requested to apply Betamethasone valerate 0.12% Foamix Foam for 14 days. As demonstrated in the following pictures, all patients improved and virtually cleared after 10 days of treatment.

These exceptional benefits were attributed to (1) the facile application of the product, which was evenly absorbed in the skin; and (2) the user-friendly nature of the product, which resulted in better treatment-compliance.

Partnering
Foamix has completed the development of a number of such products, which are ready for either marketing or advanced development, worldwide.

Foamix is actively seeking development and marketing partners for products from the DermaFoamix™ platform.