Shabbir Mostafa, global key account director for Recipharm Inhalation Solutions, looks at the techniques to reduce time to market during inhalation drug development and manufacturing.
Time concept
Developing an inhalation drug product is a complex process, with the tech transfer and scale-up stage particularly difficult to manage. While drug companies often have in-house expertise for drug discovery, initial development and small-scale production, few can manufacture inhalation drugs for clinical trials and – assuming they win approval – commercial supply. By far the most effective way of overcoming this is to work with a partner that has expertise and established production capabilities. Better still, there are also advantages to engaging with a CDMO that can offer an end-to-end service from drug development to manufacture, reducing complexity.
Challenges of inhalation drug development
Respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) represent one of the greatest healthcare challenges and are driving an increasing need for more innovative and effective treatments. As a non-invasive approach for local treatment of a broad range of debilitating lung diseases, pulmonary drug delivery is increasing in popularity. Despite the many benefits, when developing treatments that use this delivery mechanism there are several challenges that manufacturers will want to consider.