The remainder of the day’s podium presentations took place as part of a session titled “Disease States Beyond Asthma and COPD: To Inhale or not to Inhale.” The talks covered everything from nebulization during mechanical ventilation to the implication of respiratory treatments in the spread of influenza.
Two of the talks described developments of specific inhaled drugs. Jeff Breit of Ben Research detailed development of an inhaled dry powder formulation of camptothecin, a chemotherapy drug for lung cancer, using nanocrystals of camptothecin suspended in dextran and then spray dried. Donald Kellerman of MAP Pharmaceuticals followed with a review of the development of his company’s Levadex inhaled dihydroergotamine for the treatment of migraine headaches.
The remaining talks provided a broader overview of treatments for lung infections. Daniela Traini of the University of Sydney, who had just received word of her promotion to Associate Professor, surveyed work being done to develop inhaled dry powder antibiotic formulations and inhalers suitable for delivery of the large doses of inhaled antibiotics necessary for the treatment of lung infections. David Barrios of GSK discussed current efforts to develop new oral antibiotics to treat drug resistant tuberculosis and invited the inhalation experts in the audience to share their expertise through the Pool for Open Innovation and to get support for their research through the Tres Cantos Open Lab Foundation.
Lunch and the evening drinks reception took place in the exhibition hall, where vendors were seeing moderate activity on the first day. Few exhibitors seemed to be introducing new products — Aptar’s new metering valve was one exception — but most indicated that they have been seeing an improvement in business recently.
Several contests offered attendees opportunities to compete for prizes: DDL 22 has introduced a quiz game to encourage people to visit booths, with an IPad and several Kindles available as prizes, and Team Consulting encouraged visitors to test their inspiratory strength on its “Inhalator.” By the end of the day, three dozen people had taken up the challenge, with Frank Koppenhagen of Teva posting the highest numbers so far and vowing to defend his lead.
