Both companies refuse to reveal the nature of the agreement and the potential use of Kurve's ViaNase device for Schering-Plough products; as a technology platform, ViaNase is compatible with a wide range of formulations.
With the ability to deliver solutions and suspensions as well as proteins and peptides, ViaNase can be used for topical therapies such as rhinitis, sinusitis and cold and flu or systemic therapies, including pain management, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, sexual dysfunction and migraine.
Furthermore, nose-to-brain treatments through the olfactory and trigeminal pathways into the brain include Alzheimers, Parkinsons and other central nervous system disorders.
Kurve claims ViaNase is compatible with so many treatments because it can deliver formulations to specific target sites within the nasal cavity.
"The ViaNase device is the only device capable of delivering compounds throughout the entire nasal cavity, to the olfactory region and into the paranasal sinuses," Kurve CEO Marc Giroux told In-PharmaTechnologist.com.
"This enables pharmaceutical companies to pursue treatments and therapies that would otherwise be very difficult or impossible."
Asked about the manufacturing cost of the device, Giroux said it is "inexpensive", since the company intends to bring it to market significantly under the price of a comparable device such as a handheld nebuliser.
ViaNase takes the form of a nasal nebuliser and a spray bottle and makes use of the electronic atomiser to produce finely-controlled particle dispersions.
Effective administration is an important aspect of nasal delivery, since many spray pumps and metered dose inhalers do not deliver compounds to the entire nasal cavity, with up to 90 per cent of the drug quickly cleared and swallowed.
Studies however have shown that ViaNase delivers drug to the entire nasal mucosa, penetrating far deeper into the nasal cavity than traditional nasal drug delivery devices.
In addition, the device has the ability to target deposition into various regions of the nasal cavity and minimises peripheral deposition to the lungs and stomach.
Using the principal of vortical flow, the device is based on Kurve's Controlled Particle Dispersion (CPD) which effectively disrupts inherent nasal cavity airflows to deliver formulations to the entire nasal cavity.
Clinical results show that the average area of intranasal deposition was as much as 300 per cent greater for CPD compared to spray pumps.
The company also unveiled recently an upgraded version of its device called ViaNase ID which offers authentication technology and dose counting that limit counterfeit drug use and improves patient compliance.