Designed primarily for delivering systemic treatments beyond the typically inhaled topical asthma and COPD, such as vaccines, pain relief and insulin, the Occoris ‘engine’ is ultra-small, active and achieves accurate and repeatable delivery of API-only formulations, the firm says.
The Ickleton, Cambridgeshire company will showcase prototypes for a single-use disposable inhaler, a multi-unit dose inhaler and a multi-dose inhaler – demonstrating the technology’s multi-platform credentials, and to illustrate the numerous design possibilities afforded by Occoris.
Team Consulting says it developed the technology after identifying a number of factors that are likely to shape the respiratory drug delivery market of the future.
First, asthma and COPD inhalers typically use an inert carrier fraction to dilute the small quantities of API. Inhalers that treat conditions beyond asthma and COPD will need to deliver a wide range of dosages that do not require a carrier fraction.
Second, inhalers for treating conditions such as diabetes, pain relief or delivering vaccines will require very different designs. Team Consulting says the simplicity and small size (around the same size as a garden pea) of the Occoris engine gives designers flexibility in form factor and materials. For example, one of the concepts on show at RDD will be for mass vaccination and can be produced largely out of recyclable cardboard.
Third, regulators will demand much tighter dose content uniformity, higher delivery efficiencies and better independency of flow rate from inhalers.
Team Consulting says early indications are that inhalers that use the active Occoris engine will deliver highly accurate dosage and repeatable performance.
‘Delivering drug via the pulmonary route offers so many advantages over needles and tablets. The drug is quickly absorbed by the body, in powder form it doesn’t require cold storage and there is no user anxiety or danger of needle-stick injuries,’ says David Harris, head of respiratory drug delivery at Team Consulting.
‘With our Occoris technology we are opening up a wide range of new opportunities beyond the traditional and highly competitive asthma and COPD market, which will help our pharmaceutical clients to establish new revenue streams.’
