Valois Pharma, The French company specialising in nasal and pulmonary drug delivery technologies, has developed a new Dry Powder Inhaler (DPI), Prohaler, which is said to offer a unique combination of simplicity of use and high performance.
Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) represent a worldwide market estimated at US$20bn (Euro 13.6bn) in drug sales in 2006 and expected to continue to grow sharply to reach $35bn (€23.8bn) in 2011. Drug delivered via DPIs represent the fastest growing segment with an estimate of 175 million DPI units manufactured globally in 2006.
One of the main drivers of success is the patient preference for DPIs because they do not require breath co-ordination as opposed to pressurised Metered Dose Inhalers (pMDIs). A further benefit of DPIs is that they are propellant-free and therefore environmentally-friendly.
The Prohaler has been developed with a patient-based design approach, making it highly intuitive & simple to use by all patients. It requires only three simple steps: open, breathe in and close. A dose counter reminds the patient of the number of doses left in the device. Prohaler also incorporates visual and audible feed-back systems to facilitate ease-of-use and patient control.
Prohaler features a novel powder dispersion technology enabling high lung deposition even while operating at low patient's inhalation flow rate. It also incorporates a unique patient safety feature to avoid any risk of double- dosing and wasted doses.
Moreover, the drug product is protected inside individual blisters that are opened only upon inhalation by the patient, hence providing optimal powder protection.
Prohaler is protected by more than 35 patent and patent application families.
"In a nutshell, this novel device is ideally designed to meet the needs for patients" safety and comfort as well as to satisfy medical professionals" recommendations, pharmaceutical industry's expectations and the regulatory bodies" requirements," said Guillaume Brouet, director, business development pulmonary.