This article provides a brief history of the formation of The European Pharmaceutical Aerosol Group (EPAG), including its constitution, objectives, structure, influence, publications and input to regulatory guidance documents. A list of the organization’s publications and references since 2000 is also included. The large body of published articles coming from EPAG, together with the influence […]
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A new United States law recognizing sesame as the ninth major food allergen is having unintended consequences. Some food manufacturers and commercial bakeries that support restaurants, stock grocery shelves and supply schools are intentionally adding sesame to various products that previously did not contain it. Consequently, this decreases the number of sesame-free products available for […]
The Biopharmaceutics Focus Group of the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences (APS) of Great Britain presented a workshop on nasal biopharmaceutics at the 2022 Drug Delivery to the Lungs Conference (DDL2022) in December 2022 in Edinburgh, UK. The aim was to bring together the scientific community to discuss challenges in the development of nasally administered therapies. […]
When selecting biological models for testing inhalation products, careful consideration must be made regarding the area of the respiratory tract that is the target site for a product. Once the appropriate cellular models are selected, there are several cell culture techniques that can be utilized to mimic the physiologically relevant conditions. Currently, several cellular models […]
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published a report in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology that offers recommendations and resources to assist allergists and immunologists in supporting patients as they become affected by climate change. In two articles, Healio interviewed two of the three report authors. They discuss […]
The SABINA study of SABA inhaler usage and risk of asthma exacerbations, funded by AstraZeneca, is the largest real-world observational data analysis of asthma inhaler therapy and has evaluated more than one million patients across 40 countries. In addition, at Queen Mary University of London, a study of more than 700,000 patient records evaluated SABA […]
The earliest reference to therapeutic dry powder inhalation may also be the earliest reference to “engineered particles,” dating from 1849, in London. An initial article looks at the history of dry powder inhalers, including devices and formulations, and discusses considerations for future DPIs. Then an interview takes a new look at current challenges and opportunities […]
A large gap exists between the relatively straightforward robust methods in the pharmacopeias, developed primarily for product release, and the more elaborate approaches to assist in understanding how inhalers are likely to perform in the hands of the patient or caregiver. The authors propose that there is a middle way forward and believe it is […]
This article provides an overview of the considerations for the formulation development of inhaled biologics and the various excipients that are routinely investigated for use in dry powder formulations of biologics intended for oral inhalation, with particular emphasis on protein stabilization. Carbohydrates, including simple sugars, complex sugars and sugar alcohols; amino acids and surfactants are […]
This article describes legislative and commercial drivers for propellant change and potential propellants, as well as the Respitab® technology platform, which provides a novel approach to formulation and manufacturing of lower global warning potential (GWP) pMDIs. Studies are presented and manufacturing and considerations for its use are discussed. There is a clear need for alternatives […]