Innovative Technology Improves Delivery of Inhaled Drugs

A new active technology does not rely on the patient’s inhalation for drug delivery, resulting in consistent dosing regardless of inspiratory effort.

The Occoris inhaler is an active dry powder aerosolization system under development that demonstrates a two-to-three fold improvement in the efficiency of drug delivery to the deep lung, when compared to other dry powder inhaler (DPI) devices. This extended inhaler performance could enable a new range of therapies—beyond the treatment of asthma and COPD—by capitalizing on the use of pulmonary delivery of systemic drugs in applications such as pain relief, migraine relief, insulin delivery, and vaccination.


During testing, the Occoris achieved a fine particle fraction (FPF - a measure of the percentage of drug particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than 5 µm) of 73%, compared to an FPF of 20%–40% for existing DPIs. In a typical DPI up to 80% of the drug that leaves the device is deposited in the mouth and throat—not reaching the lungs—whereas Occoris achieved around 20% mouth and throat deposition. The superior performance could allow total dosage to be reduced, reducing the risk of unwanted side effects, in particular from steroid-based therapies. The Occoris inhaler is under development by Team Consulting (Cambridge, United Kingdom).

“Occoris has the potential to unlock therapies that are currently beyond the reach of existing DPI technologies, marking a step-change in DPI performance,” said physicist David Harris, head of respiratory drug Delivery at Team Consulting. “There is more work to be done however and we are actively looking for partners to continue the development of the Occoris aerosolization engine.”

“This is an innovative and exciting technology with great potential. It could enable pulmonary delivery of drugs in many different areas, for example in therapies requiring higher payloads such as inhaled antibiotics and systemic drug delivery,” said Prof. Peter Barnes, MD, head of respiratory medicine at Imperial College London (ICL, United Kingdom).

Team Consulting claims that once fully developed, the inhaler could be integrated into a breath-actuated, single-use inhaler costing less than USD 0.20.

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