A revolutionary new inhaler developed for mass vaccination against chronic diseases and global pandemics, such as avian flu, has been unveiled by UK-based Cambridge Consultants.
Conix One is said to deliver the performance expected of high-end inhalers at a lower cost than a syringe. Furthermore, it is extremely simple to use and improves safety for front-line health workers at risk of needle-stick injuries posed by standard vaccination devices.
The new inhaler is expected to bring the ease and convenience of inhaled drug delivery to global scale initiatives where the key is to treat as many people as effectively, quickly and as economically as possible. Up until now, the cost of producing an inhaler economically, and with the necessary performance, has not been possible, according to Cambridge Consultants.
'We believe that this inhaler will fundamentally change the way we treat many diseases on a global scale. Designed specifically with global pandemics like H5N1 in mind, we have combined cutting edge technology with smart product design, enabling us to achieve something that has never been seen before,' said Brian Barney, head of drug delivery at Cambridge Consultants.
The new inhaler is based around a novel 'reverse flow cyclone' and contains no moving parts or propellants. It is made from a single piece of plastic and costs just US$0.04 to manufacture in high volume (5 million per annum), compared with the cost of $0.04-0.08 for a syringe, and is substantially cheaper than typical asthma inhalers on the market, which cost at least $0.40 to manufacture.
Furthermore, syringes are more expensive to distribute, often requiring refrigeration, and 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 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. The cyclone chamber releases a steady flow of drug over 2 seconds, enabling better use of a patient's lung power.
In lab-based in vitro testing, Conix One has been tested with formulations taken from several popular asthma and COPD inhalers. These in-house tests have demonstrated up to 40% improvement over these inhalers in the fine particle fraction, enabling more drug to reach the deep lung. Cambridge Consultants expects to see even better performance figures once the device enters clinical trials.
'Currently, inhalers tend to be focused on specific treatments and are designed to typically contain between 14 and 200 doses. This suits conditions such as asthma, as the patient needs to use it three or four times per day, but when a drug is required to be delivered only once, the cost of current inhaler technology is prohibitive,' said Barney. We are currently in active discussions with major pharmaceutical and medical device companies who have been universally astounded by the technology and what we have achieved.'