Study: More effective medicines through co-optimising formulation and device during development.

August 25, 2015

Cambridge, United Kingdom - Intertek, the leading quality solutions provider to industries worldwide, today announced the publication of a study on strategies for improving the effectiveness of inhalation medicines.

Dry powder inhalers (DPI) are increasingly popular products for delivering drugs to the lungs due to their ease of use by the patient, environmental sustainability and formulation stability. Historically, these devices have been relatively simple with limited optimisation, but continuing development is generating a variety of device platforms with different characteristics and targets with improved performance. Working with academic from King's College London and The University of Parma, Italy, the Intertek team explored how the medicine's formulation and properties of inhalation devices combine to impact performance, and investigated whether clinically effective formulations can be tailored to devices with different properties.

This study, which was published in the International Journal of Pharmaceutics in July 2015, demonstrated how both formulation of the medicine and device factors impact product performance, highlighting that inhaler formulations must be co-optimised with the inhaler device during product development.

Mark Hammond, Pharmaceutical Services Leader, Intertek said "Conducting studies such this is vital to pushing forward the evolution of inhalation technology as a means of delivering drug products and expanding the pharmaceutical industry's understanding of how to develop more effective medicines."

Intertek UK & Eire Chief Executive Rob van Dorp said: "Intertek has over 25 years of experience in analytical testing and formulation for the inhaled products behind treatments for asthma, Cystic Fibrosis, Diabetes, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease and has built a reputation for providing outstanding customer service for challenging pharmaceutical developments programs."

Intertek also provides pharmaceutical development and manufacturing support services spanning analysis, bioanalysis, formulation development, regulatory consultancy, auditing and supply chain management solutions from its network of offices and regulatory laboratories across the globe.

More information:
Int J Pharm. 2015 Jul 25;490(1-2):360-7
Formulating powder-device combinations for salmeterol xinafoate dry powder inhalers.
Hassoun M, Ho S, Muddle J, Buttini F, Parry M, Hammond M, Forbes. B. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V

Contacts:
Dr Lorna Kettle, Marketing Manager, Intertek Pharmaceutical Services
Tel.:+44 161 721 1476, Email: lorna.kettle@intertek.com

About Intertek
Intertek is a leading quality solutions provider to industries worldwide. From auditing and inspection, to testing, training, advisory, quality assurance and certification, Intertek adds value for its customers by helping improve the quality and safety of their products, assets and processes. With a network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices and over 38,000 people in more than 100 countries, Intertek supports companies' success in the global marketplace, by helping customers to meet end users' expectations for safety, sustainability, performance, integrity and desirability in virtually any market worldwide.www.intertek.com.

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