OptiNose has won the Oslo regional competition of the DnB NOR Innovation Award for its nasal drug delivery technology, and the company will compete in the Norwegian national competition in September. The regional award includes a prize of 200,000 NOK (~$36,000), and the national prize is 1 million NOK. The competition is sponsored by the Norwegian bank DnB.
OptiNose was founded in 2000 in Oslo and moved to Yardley, PA in June 2010. The company is developing both powder and liquid nasal delivery devices and is currently working on Phase 2 studies involving nasal delivery of fluticasone for the treatment of nasal polyps and rhinosinusiti and of sumatriptan for migraines.
The prize committee explained its decision as follows: “OptiNose has addressed an important challenge with a large international market potential…If the winner succeeds with this, it will mean a major breakthrough in the treatment of disorders of the brain, and Norway will become a benchmark in this area of research and development. It also opens doors for the development of several new treatment options with great commercial potential.”
Per Djupesland, Chief Scientific Officer of OptiNose, replied, “It is an honor for OptiNose to receive this important recognition from a leading organization like DnB NOR. We truly believe our bi-directional drug delivery technology holds the promise to more effectively deliver therapies to treat debilitating diseases — from nasal polyps and migraines today, to a variety of CNS disorders in the future.”
Read the OptiNose press release.
