Design Objectives

The Company established a set of design objectives for the ZrSi technology platform to assure market acceptance.  Safety was the primary consideration.  The design objectives provided the framework to the development of ZS-9 in order to create an oral sorbent that is non-systemically absorbed, stable, palatable, ion selective, effective, safe and could be practical for both acute and chronic administration.

We concluded that the ideal oral sorbent for the treatment of acute and chronic hyperkalemia as well as other toxic conditions would:

• Be highly effective in the removal of toxins by having a sorptive capacity greater than existing therapies
• Demonstrate an excellent safety profile including no residual GI consequences such as diarrhea, obstructions or ulcers
• Enter and exit the body without breaking down and adding to the patient’s problems
• Not interfere or remove patient-beneficial substances, including divalent cations such as calcium and magnesium
• Overcome divalent cation displacement, so monovalent toxins can remain absorbed
• Enhance patient compliance by reducing the amount of product necessary at each dose as well as eliminate the need for adjunctive therapy