Asthma inhalers could soon become more effective thanks to a Melbourne scientist and his team who have developed a new method for making ultrafine particles to deliver the drugs.
Dr Meng Wai Woo and his team at Monash University used ethanol vapour to dehydrate a droplet and create ultrafine uniform particles that could reach the lower regions of the lungs, ensuring the drug did not remain stuck in the throat.
“Ultrafine uniform particles will ensure that less drug particles get stuck in the throat while more can reach the lower regions of the lungs,” says Meng Wai, a lecturer at Monash University, who is leading the research.
“From a drug manufacturer perspective, this new approach can maintain the uniformity of the particle and yet potentially maintain commercially viable production rate,” he says.
His team, with funding from the Australian Research Council, is now expanding this technique to proteins for future application on protein-derived drugs.
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