The more than 200,000 people in Ireland with diabetes who need to take insulin may soon find relief from injections in the form of an inhaler.
Aerogen, an aerosol drug delivery company based in Galway, has announced a drug-delivery partnership with Dance Pharmaceuticals, a biotech company in San Francisco, California, to develop a next-generation inhaled insulin product.
“Dance’s team of inhaled insulin experts considered all potential aerosol technologies worldwide and chose Aerogen’s technology because we’re convinced it’s the best, most patient-friendly technology for our first inhaled insulin product,” said John S Patton, PhD, CEO of Dance Pharma.
“Aerogen has done an outstanding job optimising technology performance and achieving low-cost production.”
“Most diabetics avoid taking insulin for years because the treatment requires multiple daily injections. The consequences for the patient and the healthcare system due to that kind of delay are dramatic. Our mission at Dance is to provide inhaled insulin in a patient friendly, low-cost form to patients throughout the world,” Patton added.
The product will be based on Aerogen’s OnQ aerosol technology, which enables drugs to be nebulised into a mist that can be absorbed through the lungs.
Under the terms of this agreement, Aerogen has granted Dance an exclusive worldwide license to its aerosol technology for insulin delivery.
Tina Costanza
