Forest Laboratories, having developed what it believes is the world?s first dry powder inhalation system for antibiotics, is now conducting phase III trials on a new dry powder antibiotic formulation which promises to change the lives of cystic fibrosis sufferers by drastically reducing the daily treatment time.
The UK company is using a dry powder formulation of its existing antibiotic Colomycin (colistimethate sodium) in the new inhalation system called Colobreathe, for use by cystic fibrosis patients whose lungs are infected by pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria.
The new drug delivery system will be small, resembling a pen, and uses an existing spring-loaded delivery device to distribute the contents of an antibiotic capsule when the patient inhales.
Currently patients with cystic fibrosis require the use of a nebuliser twice a day to administer their antibiotic medication, involving complex equipment and drug reconstitution, an encumbering process that can take 20-30 minutes each time.
This new system will reduce the total process down to a maximum of two minutes.
Because cystic fibrosis is primarily a disease of younger people, having to use a timely nebuliser is a main cause of patients not taking their medication regularly or properly. Thus a new method that can decrease the burden of treatment and offer these patients more freedom is highly sought after.