Cambridge Consultants and Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company Ltd develop a high performance, easy to use dry powder inhaler
Cambridge Consultants, a leading technology product design and development firm, has developed a new high efficiency, easy to use dry powder inhaler with Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company Ltd. ("SPARC") one of India's leading pharmaceutical research companies, and Design Directions, a leading Design House in India. The inhaler has a uniform delivery profile that ensures the full intended metered dose of the drug is administered to the deep lung, regardless of the strength of the patient's intake of breath.
The device employs a novel de-agglomeration engine to separate the drug from the lactose 'carrier' particles. Based on a highly efficient airway design, the patented drug separation mechanism has successfully completed clinical trials and demonstrated that it is capable of delivering significantly more of the drug to the deep lung than traditional inhalers. In practice, this will minimise side effects from drug build-up in the back of the throat, reduce non-systemic load and wastage, and means almost 50% less active drug needs pre-loading into the device in comparison to a standard inhaler.
This step change in inhaler technology is a reliable and easy to use device, particularly for patients with impaired lung function or those using the inhaler during an asthma attack - overcoming any patient concerns about the ability to use the device effectively.
In addition to its novel drug delivery mechanism, the device integrates a number of user-friendly design features. These include a numerical dose counter to indicate at a glance how many more doses are left in the inhaler before it runs out, a luminous feature to enable users to find the device in the dark and a small pop-out 'braille' button which activates when there are only a few doses remaining. The device gives audible and tactile feedback to indicate the delivery and completion of user steps. The device also features a unique palm-held form, designed to discreetly house the complex dose carriage and delivery system yet remain comfortable to hold and use.
Mr Dilip S. Shanghvi, Chairman and Managing Director of SPARC, commented, "Our search for the right design expertise for this project was global, but Cambridge Consultants stood out to us because of its excellent track record in medical device development. The partnership has worked incredibly well and has enabled us to take the product from initial requirement to market in half the time that such projects usually demand."
Phil Lever, Commercial Director at Cambridge Consultants, added, "We're delighted that SPARC chose to work with us on the technically challenging project as we feel this is a strong endorsement of the world-class development skills we offer, and we are very proud of the inhaler that has been developed as a result of this collaborative partnership." Cambridge Consultants and SPARC are now working together to ready the device for manufacture and the commercial launch is expected in 2011.
Cambridge Consultants will also be demonstrating the device at the Drug Delivery to the Lungs (DDL) 21 conference, Edinburgh International Conference Centre, 8th-10th December 2010.