Inhalation made easy with ICOone

There is a growing interest in delivering drugs by inhalation, not only medicines that treat the lungs and airways – such as those against asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but also drugs that acts systemically.

This is because many drugs are easily and rapidly taken up from the outside of the thin mucosa in the alveoli in our lungs, to our blood. Like oxygen. This happens much faster than drug uptake from the digestive system, or after a subcutaneous injection. After inhalation, a drug enters the bloodstream almost as fast as after an intravenous injection.

A rapid onset of action is desirable in, for example, short-acting insulin treatments and pain management.

The most important aspects of the route of administration are patient safety and medical effect. When the pharmaceutical is formulated as a dry powder for inhalation, it is also easy to handle. The administration of the pharmaceutical is done by the patient herself, without the need for injections or medical staff. Dry powder can, unlike many liquids, be transported in normal temperatures without cold chain.

ICOone is a unique, patented dry powder inhaler for single use. The inhaler comes with an ultra-low manufacturing cost thanks to the smart design which also makes it easy and intuitive to use. It is particularly suitable for short-term treatment and as-needed use. ICOone can deliver large doses to the lungs and protects the powder formulation against moisture, an important factor for many biological drugs and vaccines. The simple design also enables patients and caregivers to learn how to handle the inhalers with minimal training. There is also an adaption for nasal inhalation; ICOone Nasal.

There are ongoing development projects with ICOone and ICOone Nasal at Iconovo for different indications. We are currently developing ICOone Nasal together with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In the near future, ISR will start a study with inhaled covid-19 vaccine in ICOone Nasal and we run a project together Monash University for oxytocin in ICOone for postpartum bleeding.

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Insulin delivered with inhaler – the case strengthens