Pulmonary Delivery Innovative Technologies Breathing New Life into Inhalable Therapeutics

" Pulmonary delivery: innovative technologies breathing new life into inhalable therapeutics " This edition is one in a series of sponsored themed publications from ONdrugDelivery Ltd. Each issue will focus on a specific topic within the field of drug delivery, and contain up to eight articles contributed by industry experts. Full contact information appears alongside each article. Contributing companies would be delighted to hear from interested readers directly. ONdrugDelivery would also be very pleased to pass on to authors, or answer as appropriate, any queries you might have in relation to this publication or others in the series. Forthcoming editions cover: needle-free injection; prefilled syringes; nasal drug delivery; oral modified release; solubilising technologies; delivering injectables; novel biomaterials for drug delivery; safer injections and transdermal delivery, among other topics. To find out more about receiving or participating with any of these issues, please contact ONdrugDelivery Ltd. " Pulmonary delivery: innovative technologies breathing new life into inhalable therapeutics " The views and opinions expressed in this issue are those of the authors. Due care has been used in producing this publication, but the publisher makes no claim that it is free of error. Nor does the publisher accept liability for the consequences of any decision or action taken (or not taken) as a result of any information contained in this publication. It is fortuitous that just after the US and European regulatory authorities both approved Nektar/Pfizer's inhalable insulin, Exubera – the first product for systemic pulmonary delivery – ONdrugDelivery is publishing this edition, covering pulmonary drug delivery (as well as another issue dedicated to drug delivery in diabetes). There are of course numerous inhaled products already on the market, and in development, for respiratory diseases such as asthma and COPD. More recently, inhalable formulations for treating conditions not strictly of the lung, but nonetheless affecting the lung, such as lung infections and lung cancer, have been developed. Yet the lung – accessible, with a rich blood supply and enormous surface area – in humans, larger than the area of a tennis court – has the characteristics of an excellent route into the body for pharmaceuticals. Exubera's approval is as much an important landmark in the drug delivery industry as it is in the treatment of diabetes. A new delivery route has opened up, not only for the other companies developing pulmonary insulin formulations, but also for the many companies aiming to deliver …