Why Inhalation?
Significant unmet
needs still exist today
Oral drugs represent ~90% of all pharmaceuticals but are associated with limitations for both patients and drug developers, including:
Side Effects
Oral drugs pass through the GI tract and are largely metabolized in the liver, increasing side effects and reducing bioavailability.1
Bioavailability
Poor bioavailability creates a major drug development hurdle, including high drug failure rates in clinical trials2 and poor drug delivery for lung diseases.3
Drug Failures
Significant unmet
needs still exist today
Side Effects
Bioavailability
Poor bioavailability creates a major drug development hurdle, including high drug failure rates in clinical trials2 and poor drug delivery for lung diseases.3
Drug Failures
Liver toxicity accounts for 1 in 4.5 clinical drug failures and 1 in 3 market withdrawals from adverse drug reactions.4
Inhalation unlocks
therapeutic potential
Inhalation enables rapid and efficient drug delivery, providing multiple potential benefits:
- Bypass first-pass effects in the GI tract and liver
- Facilitate ultra-rapid drug transport directly from the lungs or nasal cavities to the bloodstream and brain
- Can improve safety profiles compared to other delivery routes, thereby improving compliance (vs. injections)
- Effective for local lung disease targeting
- Can improve the benefit-to-risk ratio for both local and systemic drugs
- Bypass first-pass effects in the GI tract and liver
- Facilitate ultra-rapid drug transport directly from the lungs or nasal cavities to the bloodstream and brain
- Can improve safety profiles compared to other delivery routes, thereby improving compliance (vs. injections)
- Effective for local lung disease targeting
- Can improve the benefit-to-risk ratio for both local and systemic drugs
Discover the power of our inhalation platforms
Discover the power of our inhalation platforms
Development requires highly specialized skills and equipment
Developing inhaled therapeutics is out-of-reach for most companies due to the complexity and challenges it poses, including:
Requires highly specialized expertise on inhalable formulations and complex drug-device development
Manufacturing requires expensive, high-volume, custom equipment
Must navigate more stringent regulatory requirements for drug-device combinations
Requires highly specialized expertise on inhalable formulations and complex drug-device development
Manufacturing requires expensive, high-volume, custom equipment
Must navigate more stringent regulatory requirements for drug-device combinations
Explore how we've addressed these industry challenges
1. Bashiardes S, Christodoulou C. Orally Administered Drugs and Their Complicated Relationship with Our Gastrointestinal Tract. Microorganisms. 2024;12(2):242. Published 2024 Jan 24. doi:10.3390/microorganisms12020242
2. Wu K, Kwon SH, Zhou X, et al. Overcoming Challenges in Small-Molecule Drug Bioavailability: A Review of Key Factors and Approaches. Int J Mol Sci. 2024;25(23):13121. Published 2024 Dec 6. doi:10.3390/ijms252313121.
3. Newman SP. Drug delivery to the lungs: challenges and opportunities. Ther Deliv. 2017;8(8):647-661. doi:10.4155/tde-2017-0037.
4. Watkins PB. Drug safety sciences and the bottleneck in drug development. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2011;89(6):788-790. doi:10.1038/clpt.2011.63
