Research into common asthma aerosol treatments could improve therapeutics in the future, according to a study published in European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics.
University of Manchester-based scientists demonstrated how they have used x-ray CT scanning to quantify the tiny microstructures of individual particles from the drug product at the nano-scale.
This gives scientists and pharmaceutical producers a better understanding of the behavior of the drug product under aerosolization, according to the scientists.
Lead author of the research, Parmesh Gajjar said: “We have been able to visualize a drug-blend in 3D, and see the interplay between drug and non-drug particles in the medicine. This is important for final quality control of asthma medicines to check the actual amount of drug and to help formulate improved asthma medications.”
The findings were announced at the Respiratory Drug Delivery (RDD) 2020 conference. The work was selected to be a key presentation at the global conference, originally scheduled to take place in Palm Springs, but now occurring in a digital format as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
