Sonomechanics Blog

"This award provides strong validation of our approach to significantly enhancing the bioavailability and therapeutic effects of natural bioactive ingredients by formulating them into water-compatible formats. ISM’s methodology relies exclusively on all-natural formulation components and our patented ultrasonic technology that enables large-scale manufacturing of a broad range of pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products—solutions that consumers consistently prefer over existing alternatives,” said Dr. Alexey Peshkovsky, President and Chief Scientific Officer of ISM, and Principal Investigator (PI) on this NIH grant.

The SBIR program is one of the most competitive NIH funding initiatives, designed to support small
businesses advancing cutting edge science with high commercial potential. This grant, titled “Using
Scalable Ultrasonic Nano-Emulsification to Improve Pharmacokinetic Properties of the Natural Product Curcumin”, has as one of its long-term goals to enable the effective use of therapeutically important natural ingredients in disease treatment.

Nearly 90% of drug candidates in the pharmaceutical pipeline, 40% of FDA-approved drugs, and most natural therapeutics suffer from poor water solubility, resulting in low bioavailability and inconsistent efficacy. Natural compounds like curcumin, despite their therapeutic promise, are often avoided due to these limitations. Nano-formulations, which encapsulate hydrophobic ingredients in nanometer-sized particles dispersed in water, enhance solubility, improve bioavailability, and ensure compatibility with oral and other administration routes. 

Conventional nano-formulation technologies, however, face significant challenges. To overcome these barriers, ISM has developed its patented Barbell Horn® Ultrasonic Technology (BHUT) and a novel formulation development process, enabling efficient, scalable, and cost-effective production of nanoemulsions. This comprehensive approach powers the creation of all-natural, pleasant-tasting formulations that improve marketability and therapeutic consistency.

In this project, ISM focuses on curcumin, a natural therapeutic with extensive clinical research
highlighting its potential to treat a wide range of diseases. Despite its promise, curcumin’s extremely
low oral bioavailability has limited its therapeutic applications. To overcome this limitation ISM has
successfully developed the first all-natural, cost-effective, and pleasant-tasting curcumin nanoemulsion with a sub-100 nm median droplet size—a key parameter proven to enhance stability and dramatically improve bioavailability. Beyond curcumin, this breakthrough underscores the transformative potential of our technology to enable scalable, highly bioavailable nano-formulations for a broad range of natural therapeutics, paving the way for effective, marketable solutions in disease treatment.

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Center for Complementary &
Integrative Health of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R43AT013043.

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