➡ Future pandemics are expected to be caused by airborne virus infecting the respiratory tract. Several studies have shown that Mucosal IgA can provide immunity against respiratory viruses. A future vaccine, treatment or prophylactic drug could therefore be more efficacious using combined nasal and pulmonary delivery to give maximal mucosal absorption in the entire respiratory tract.
➡ A non-invasive method to simultaneously administer drug or vaccine to both the nose and the lung could be an important first line of defense against the next pandemic. Several nasal spray vaccines are under development, but sprays have the inherent limitation in terms of short shelf-life and coordination issues. A passive dry powder delivery system would address the limitation of wet sprays. A nasal DPI is driven by the inspiratory flow, eliminating all coordination issues. A dry powder is stable in room temperature eliminating the need for expensive and complicated cold storage. The dry powder formulation can also be optimized to give a maximal pulmonary deposition.
➡ A platform for simple and cost-efficient delivery of vaccines and biomolecules via the nose has been developed and optimized. The dry powder inhalation platform includes a device and a family of dry powder formulations. The platform is developed to be ultra-low-cost and suitable for low-income countries and tropical conditions. The project is funded by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.