H&T Presspart, a manufacturer for the drug delivery industry, and Cohero Health, a firm developing smart respiratory disease management technology, have teamed up to create a wireless connected metered dose inhaler for patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The device allows the patient, as well as their family and clinical team, to have a complete picture of when and how much of both preventer (controller) and reliever (rescue) medications have been delivered. This data can be combined with lung function data from Cohero’s mSpirometer within the company’s app and therefore the effect of the drugs can be better understood for individual patients.
There’s also a traditional FDA approved mechanical dose counter built-in, so existing drugs can be ported more easily to the new platform. The system can also be integrated with additional sensors and an on-board display to provide extra readings without using an app.
Here’s a feature list for the new inhaler according to the announcement:
- Fully embedded device to promote adoption and repeated use to generate unadulterated data
- Seamless integration into the BreatheSmart connected respiratory care platform from Cohero Health
- Embedded sensors to detect medication use and quality of medication administration (detection of proper inhaler actuation)
- Embedded mechanical or electronic dose counting and display
- Intuitive and discrete design, operation consistent with standard pMDI operation
- No disruption to medication delivery pathway, reducing regulatory hurdles and expediting time to market
- Compatibility with any valve or canister
- Battery life consistent with product shelf life – no replacement parts, no recharging or battery changes
- Modular design enabling sensing and communication capabilities to be applied to a range of MDI, DPI and other drug delivery devices H&T Presspart and Cohero Health are currently collaborating with pharmaceutical manufacturers who are leveraging the technology for pipeline development and value-added product differentiation.