The 2011 annual meeting of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists in Washington, DC, which took place from October 23-27, included presentations of research related to OINDPs in several formats: a pre-workshop on “Developing Pharmaceutical Products for Controlled Pulmonary Delivery”; a roundtable discussion titled, “QbD in Dry Powder Inhaler Development: A Realistic Proposition?”; a mini symposium titled, “Bioequivalence Considerations for Alternative Dosage Form Modified Release Products”; and numerous posters.
Exhibitors reported a significant amount of interest from attendees regarding the development of inhaled and nasal drugs, although few of the exhibitors introduced any new OINDP-related products and services.
-INTFG meeting
-Graduate students win awards for inhalation drug research
-DMV-Fonterra introduces new name
INTFG elects new officers
At the Inhalation and Nasal Technology Focus Group business meeting, members reviewed the focus group’s activities over the past year and elected several new officers. Outgoing Chair Jason Ehrick (Merck) brought the group up to date on outreach efforts, including a LinkedIn group that now includes approximately 280 members, a series of webinars sponsored by the INTFG, and the annual fall symposium.
The primary business conducted during the meeting involved the election of new officers. At the previous business meeting, held during the fall symposium, group members had nominated candidates for open leadership positions and voted to add a student member position to the executive committee.
Samiran De (Next Breath), who was previously named Chair-Elect, will take over as Chair. After ballots were counted, the newly elected INTFG officers were announced:
Vice Chair: Sai Chamarthy (Merck)
Secretary: Bill Schachtner (PPD)
Executive Committee Members: Jeff Breit (Bend Research), Jim Butz (Merck), Guenther Hochhaus (University of Florida)
Student Member: Tammy Shen (UNC)
Two AAPS graduate student awards for research related to inhaled pharmaceuticals
Each section of AAPS selects a limited number of student-submitted posters for inclusion in a special graduate student symposium. Award winners receive a plaque, a $250 cash award, free registration at the conference, and reimbursement of travel expenses. At the 2011 meeting, both the Analysis and Pharmaceutical Quality (APQ) and Formulation Design and Development (FDD) selected posters related to inhalation.
Among the winners in the APQ section was Andrew Otte, now a postdoctoral researcher at Purdue University, for a poster titled, “Surface Energy Distributions for the Prediction of Fine Particle Fraction from Dry Powder Formulations.” Otte worked with Purdue faculty members Rodolfo Pinal and Teresa Carvajal.
The FDD section recognized work by Nicole Beinborn from the University of Texas Austin, where she studied with Robert O. Williams III. Beinborn submitted two posters related to inhalation formulations: “Effect of Process Variables on Aerodynamic Properties of Voriconazole Formulations Produced by Thin Film Freezing for Dry Powder Inhalation” and “Dry Powder Insufflation of Crystalline and Amorphous Voriconazole Formulations Produced by Thin Film Freezing to Mice.”
Both Otte and Beinborn completed their undergraduate studies in pharmaceutical sciences at Purdue.
New brand name for DMV-Fonterra Excipients
Attendees looking for the DMV-Fonterra Excipients booth to find information on the company’s inhalation lactose products instead found themselves discussing Lactohale and Respitose with representatives of DFE Pharma as the company chose AAPS 2011 to reveal its new brand. While the legal name of the company will remain DMV-Fonterra Excipients, the new name will begin appearing on packaging in January 2012.
Complete information regarding the change is available at the DFE Pharma web site.
