Personalizing Aerosol Medicine: Development of Delivery Systems Tailored to the Individual

Abstract

Inhalation of drugs for therapeutic effects is not a recent innovation as illicit drugs have been ‘smoked’ for millennia. Nicotine delivery ‘devices’ in convenient packaged cartons of cigarettes are simple to use, inexpensive per dose and accessible to people of most ages and lung function, but of course their use leads to increased cancer, emphysema, heart disease and other medical and societal problems. In contrast, many inhalation pharmaceutical medical devices are expensive, nonportable, inconvenient, and/or are used improperly thus leading to poor therapeutic benefit. We review the current state of the art with respect to aerosol delivery, inhalation devices and the ability to personalize the treatment and management of lung disease. The confluence of many drivers will lead to more programmable and flexible devices in the future: the transition from the blockbuster model to customized therapy, technological advancements (e.g., smartphones) and cultural changes including social networking.

Development of Liposomal Ciprofloxacin to Treat Lung Infections

“…It would be highly desirable if the drug release rate could be modulated using a “parent formulation” requiring minimal or no changes in its composition to personalize therapy to suit an individual patient’s needs. While there are many inhalation devices on the market including DPIs, MDIs, nebulizers and soft-mist inhalers which can be selected to meet the specific needs of an individual patient [ 78 ], there are limited examples of formulations or drugs that can be personalized to meet the therapeutic requirements of a specific patient. However, this paradigm may soon change as it has recently become possible to modify the drug release profile of a liposome formulation through simple means to produce a faster releasing formulation [ 79 ] or a slower releasing formulation [ 80 ].…”

Scope and limitations on aerosol drug delivery for the treatment of infectious respiratory diseases

“…In addition, DPIs are easy to use, much more practical than conventional jet nebulizers because they are small, portable and reduce significantly the time required for dose administration [129][130][131], which allows a greater patient compliance [132].…”

Advances in Device and Formulation Technologies for Pulmonary Drug Delivery

“…The SmartMist (Aradigm Corporation) was one of the first electronic monitors for pMDIs that was marketed in 1997 for a very brief time. It was a large device, which accommodated the pMDI and actuator with only the mouthpiece exposed, and provided immediate feedback on inspiratory flow (in order to minimize inhaler technique errors) and recorded the time and date of every actuation (36). More recently, commercially available inhaled medication monitors include the DOSER™ (MediTrack Products), MDILog (Westmed Technologies Inc.), and Smartinhaler (Nexus 6).…”