Cambridge Consultants is reporting the development of a novel type of inhaler, designed specifically for vaccines and certain medications.
From the press release:
The new inhaler is based around a novel ‘reverse flow cyclone’ and contains no moving parts or propellants — in fact the inhaler is made from a single piece of plastic and costs just four cents to manufacture in high volume (5M per annum). This ultra-low manufacturing cost is comparable with syringes, which cost between four and eight US cents, and is substantially cheaper than the asthma inhalers on the market today, which typically compose of around 20 parts and cost at least 40 cents in volume. Although manufacturing the new inhaler is similar in cost to that of the syringe, there are significant savings to be made as syringes are more expensive to distribute (drug in liquid form typically requires refrigeration) and they require skill and training to use. The Conix One inhaler uses a simple foil seal to protect the formulation from moisture and many patients can use their devices at the same time, making rollout far faster.
The unique swirling action within the patented cyclone provides an extremely effective deagglomeration process, enabling a large percentage of drug to be delivered efficiently into the lung. This action also overcomes the problem that many inhalers have, where the drug is released within just a fraction of a second — before the patient has had time to reach their optimal inhalation rate. The cyclone chamber releases a steady flow of drug over two seconds, enabling better use of a patient’s lung power. A number of in-house tests with existing formulations from mass market asthma and COPD inhalers have shown that the drug separation mechanism is so efficient that it is up to 40% more effective than many inhalers on the market today.
The unique swirling action within the patented cyclone provides an extremely effective deagglomeration process, enabling a large percentage of drug to be delivered efficiently into the lung. This action also overcomes the problem that many inhalers have, where the drug is released within just a fraction of a second — before the patient has had time to reach their optimal inhalation rate. The cyclone chamber releases a steady flow of drug over two seconds, enabling better use of a patient’s lung power. A number of in-house tests with existing formulations from mass market asthma and COPD inhalers have shown that the drug separation mechanism is so efficient that it is up to 40% more effective than many inhalers on the market today.Link…