According to the Danish firm, the Niro Two-Fluid Nozzle (NTF) produces fine particles, with a narrow size distribution and high capacity production, using limited amounts of atomising gas.
Until now, existing two-fluid nozzles were only suitable for very small volumes where fine atomisation was required.
"The NTF now brings this technology to full production plants, allowing high volumes of pharmaceuticals to be produced on a single plant without the need for multiple nozzles and the associated costs of piping, valves, etc.," said Niro.
The NTF operates with both feed liquid and propellant gas to produce a mean particle size of less than ten microns and a span of less than two microns.
Liquid feed rates range from 30L/h to 80L/h and droplet formation can be varied by adjusting the gas-to-feed ratio.
The NTF can also handle feeds with high solids content, said the company.
The advanced drug delivery market in the US is tipped to grow more than 18 per cent and exceed $76bn (€60bn) by 2014, driven by a number of new drugs that are delivered by inhalation in large disease areas such as insulin and asthma, as well as vaccines for the deadly bird flu virus.
Currently, only a handful of contract manufacturing organisations (CMOs) exist that can fulfil the task of making such specialised devices on a large scale.