The novel technology uses a lipid-binding matrix that can combine drugs that would ordinarily be difficult to formulate in the same inhaler, usually because the molecules have different properties. For example, they may have different solubilities.
There is a growing trend towards the use of combination therapy in medicine, and respiratory diseases are no exception. Asthmatics, for example, often have to rely on two different inhaled therapies in order to control their symptoms. Inyx hopes that the new technology will allow it to co-formulate drugs in a single inhaler device, which should make treatment easier and improve compliance with treatment.
At present, drug combinations delivered by inhaler represent a $10 billion market, spearheaded by products such as GlaxoSmithKline's Advair/Seretide (salmeterol and fluticasone) and AstraZeneca's Symbicort (budesonide and formoterol), which combine a beta agonist bronchodilator with a steroid to combat inflammation.
Jack Kachkar, CEO of Inyx, said: "This acquisition represents an important milestone for Inyx because it provides our company with an added competitive advantage in aerosol drug delivery, including the delivery of drug combinations." Inyx will use it in its own product development programmes but also offer it to customers.
Inyx has acquired the technology from Phares Technology, the parent company of Phares Drug Delivery of Muttenz, Switzerland. Phares has already successfully utilised the technology for use in pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and cosmetic products.
Matthew Leigh, CEO of Phares Drug Delivery, told In-Pharmatechnologist.com that the lipid matrix technology has the advantage of improving the stability of poorly soluble compounds, such as corticosteroids. The main aim of the technology is to develop improved generic formulations of existing inhaled drugs, which could be used to extend the lifespan of product franchises. It could also be used to reduce the amount of drug that needs to be delivered in some cases, he added.
Advantages of the technology include extremely reproducible dosing which should improve the reliability of treatment, and the ability to formulate compounds that have stability problems when used alongside the non-ozone depleting propellant hydrofluoroalkane (HFA).
Non-ozone-depleting aerosol pharmaceuticals are now the only products allowed to be marketed in Europe, Canada and Australia, and most countries around the world are expected to follow suit. Over 90 per cent of the asthma inhalers sold in the US last year contained ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gas propellants, but these are expected to be banned there within the next few years.
Inyx is also working on the development of non-ozone-depleting aerosol pharmaceuticals. It has proprietary expertise in hydrocarbon aerosol foam formulations, which are increasingly replacing conventional cream, lotion and tablet formulations in dermatological and certain other treatment applications.
Dr Leigh said that Phares had decided to exit the respiratory sector and concentrate on its solubilising technologies for oral and parenteral drugs, mainly because of the huge amount of testing required for drug development in respiratory diseases and the need to also have expertise in inhaler devices.