Drug breathes new life into medicines

Painful injections and long courses of pills could become a thing of the past with the development of a new form of treatment that is inhaled and distributed around the body via the lungs.

Traditionally, inhaled drugs have been used to treat asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Now a company that originated from the University of Bath, Vectura Group plc, has been looking beyond the treatment of respiratory diseases and is developing a range of inhaled drugs for conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, cystic fibrosis and migraines. The new treatments, which come in the form of a fine, dry powder, are delivered using inhalers.

The extensive capillary surface of the lung means that the drug is absorbed into the body more quickly than via tablet or intravenous injection; it is non-invasive and could also allow a lower dose to be used, reducing side effects for the patients.

Inhalation is regarded as one of the quickest and most effective ways of administering many different therapeutic drugs and the potential markets for Vectura’s products are huge.

This kind of drug delivery system builds on expertise from the University, which has long been at the forefront of research into advanced drug formulations and delivery systems.

Vectura was established in 1997 and operated from premises at the University of Bath until 2002. It went public in 2004 and is now one of Europe’s leading pharmaceutical businesses.