# Proof of Extended Absorption of Liothyronine from PolyZincLiothyronine (PZL) inHumans

> **NIH NIH R44** · SYNTHONICS, INC. · 2020 · $1,029,452

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
This proposal addresses the clinical deficiency of the currently available oral
treatments for hypothyroidism. Whereas levothyroxine (LT4, Synthroid® and
other products) is the standard of care and effectively resolves symptoms in most
patients, some hypothyroid patients are commonly treated with a combination of
LT4 and liothyronine (LT3, Cytomel® and other products). LT3 has the
disadvantage of being absorbed too rapidly, too short-lived and associated with
potential side-effects to act as an effective complement to T4. If the value of
combining T3 with T4 is to be ultimately realized for these patients, a controlled
release product that delivers T3 in a fashion that produces physiologically normal
(euthyroid) plasma levels will be needed. Euthyroid plasma T3 levels are important
to achieve normal thyroid hormone concentrations in all tissues. The broad, long-
term objective of this product is to provide patients a new thyroid hormone drug
product that produces euthyroid-like T3 levels with once daily oral dosing. The
metallo-T3 complexes are designed to be insoluble. They slowly pass through and
settle in the gastrointestinal tract where T3 molecules gradually break free from the
metal complex and enter the blood stream. This modulates the rate of delivery and
thereby the rate of T3 drug absorption.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9932448
- **Project number:** 5R44DK116396-03
- **Recipient organization:** SYNTHONICS, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Thomas Piccariello
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $1,029,452
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-15 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9932448

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9932448, Proof of Extended Absorption of Liothyronine from PolyZincLiothyronine (PZL) inHumans (5R44DK116396-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9932448. Licensed CC0.

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