OptiNose, a Yardley, Pennsylvania firm, has developed interesting technology for delivery of nasal medication in a more effective fashion that common nasal sprays. The Bi-Directional delivery device uses the power of the patient’s own breath to propel drugs deep into the nasal cavity.
As a matter of fact, a new study comparing the OptiNose powder delivery device against traditional liquid nasal sprays has shown that the Bi-Directional system deposits medication more effectively to the middle and upper
posterior regions in the back of the nose. The study involved seven participants that inhaled radiolabeled medication using the two delivery methods, the deposition of which was then assessed using a gamma camera sensitive to the emitted radiation.
Study results according to the announcement:
The study found that the proportion of the dose delivered with the OptiNose technology to the middle and upper posterior regions of the nasal cavity was three times higher (53.5% vs. 15.7%, P<0.02) than the liquid spray. These regions of the nasal cavity are located in the back of the nose where a dense network of blood vessels facilitates faster drug absorption into the blood. In contrast, the traditional spray left a substantially higher proportion of the delivered dose on the floor of the nasal cavity (17.4% vs. 59.4%, P< 0.04), which often results in the medication being wiped off with a tissue or “sniffed” down the back of the throat and swallowed.
In addition, the powder delivery using the OptiNose technology resulted in faster overall clearance from the nose than the traditional spray. This was associated with less immediate loss of drug (e.g., to “drip out”), as indicated by the finding that two minutes after delivery there was greater total deposition in the nasal cavity with the OptiNose technology than with the liquid spray (98.3% vs. 85.8%, P<0.04).
Press release: Study Shows OptiNose Bi-Directional™ Nasal Technology Reaches Target Areas of the Nasal
Cavity Much More Effectively Than Traditional Nasal Spray
Product page: OptiNose…
Abstract in Journal of Aerosol Medicine and Pulmonary Delivery: Nasal Deposition and Clearance in Man: Comparison of a Bidirectional Powder Device and a Traditional Liquid Spray Pump