Sparks of Inhalation Innovation

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Feature
In an industry as diverse as pharmaceuticals, there is much
that different disciplines can learn from each another.
Here, I present a few potential sparks of inspiration by asking if
and how the world of drug delivery can benefit from a more holistic
use of the innovations occurring all around us – and vice versa.
By Richard N. Dalby
According to the US Department of Commerce (1),
the US is the largest medical device market in the
world and is expected to be valued at over $130 billion
by 2016. The same source reports that there are
more than 6,500 medical device companies in the US. I am
a co-organizer of the Respiratory Drug Delivery (RDD)
meetings and it occurred to me that there is much that my
field could teach medical device developers in other areas.
For example, could some of the latest advances in inhaler
technology be applied to the development of autoinjectors
or influence the design of new devices? Conversely, could
innovations in other medical devices affect the development of
platforms to administer inhaled drugs? Ultimately, combining
all of our knowledge and learning could be beneficial to both
pharmaceutical development and patients.
Our RDD conferences have traditionally addressed
contemporary science issues that affect combination products
(hardware and drug-containing formulation packaged together),
but the science we cover extends far beyond pulmonary and nasal
inhalation products; in part, because the conferences showcase
innovations that have applications for other pharmaceutical
solid, non-aqueous and aqueous liquids, and dispersed systems
– for both small and large molecules. The technologies created
in the inhalation industry have enabled developments at many
companies making injectors, novel parenteral formulations,
biopharmaceuticals and specialty orphan products.