Drug delivery via inhalers is today mostly restricted to the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. The British design company Team Consulting has developed an inhaler engine that might be used to deliver insulin, vaccines or drugs for pain relief.
David Harris, the technical leader of the Occuris project, told EMDT that the patent application for the technology is still pending, so he wouldn’t disclose any technical details.
He told us that there are two kinds of dry powder inhalers. “Passive inhalers are relatively cheap to produce but rely the patient’s inspiratory effort to deliver drug to the lungs. Active devices, on the other hand, are much more efficient because they use pneumatic, mechanical or piezoelectric mechanisms to disperse the drugs. But they are more complex and costly. It costs tens of Dollars to produce them,” he said.
There are currently no active devices on the market. Team estimates that an active aerosolisation engine based on their technology would cost less than 20 US cents, so it could be feasible to incorporate the engine in a single use disposable device.
The company has now released the results of the feasibility study for the concept. According to the company, the results showed a two to three times more efficient than conventional dry powder inhalers. Whereas with usual inhalers 80% of the aerosol doesn’t reach the lung because is deposits in the mouth and throat, the new technology loses only about 20% of the drugs. This would allow to reduce the dosage and thereby to avoid unwanted side effects.
Harris said that they are currently developing a prototype that is suitable for clinical studies. It will take some time before they will be able to bring the product to market. The company is currently searching for manufacturing partners.