DDL 22 finished up on Friday, December 9 with a series of talks related to physical and physicochemical properties of inhaled drugs, including several presentations by graduate students. Despite the fact that many delegates had taken shelter from the previous evening’s tropical storm-force winds in Edinburgh in nearby pubs, a reasonable number of them appeared in the conference center auditorium by 9:00 a.m. to hear Andrew Parker of Molecular Profiles discuss “The importance of physical and chemical characterisation to provide understanding of inhaled therapies: Linking Colloidal Properties to Structure, Stability and Performance.”
Graham Buckton’s discussion of salt/polymorph/co-crystal selection covered issues including micronizability, hygroscopicity, and electrostatic charges, a subject that was also dealt with in more detail by Frank Thielmann. Two of the papers focused on excipients, including Hanne Kinnunen’s presentation on the effect of fines on deagglomeration that expanded on her poster presentation from DDL 21, and Stephen Edge’s argument that it’s time to broaden our understanding of DPI excipients beyond the “white powder” to a wide variety of materials that might interact with the API.
DDL 22’s sole presentation under the heading “What in the World?” — category reserved for unusual topics — also took place on the final day in the form of Ben Maynor’s description of Liquidia Technologies’s PRINT microfabrication process for creating inhalable particles. Maynor explained the roll-to-roll process that has allowed the company to scale up a micromolding technology that allows for the creation of particles in precise sizes and shapes, including a “pollen” particle, donut shapes, and cylinders. Included in the presentation were data from tests of the company’s PRINT itraconazole and zanamivir inhalation formulations, both of which had fine particle fractions over 80%.
Another highlight of the final day came at the end of the exhibition when Team Consulting announced the winners of its Inhalator test of inspiratory strength. In the men’s division, Frank Koppenhagen of Teva successfully defended his lead over the course of the three-day exhibition for the win; and, in the women’s division, Pat Burnell New Investigator award winner Eva Maria Littringer also took home the Inhalator prize.
DDL 22 Chair Georgina Fradley closed the conference with the announcement of the dates for DDL 23 (Dec. 5-7, 2012), which will again take place at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, and by reminding delegates to start thinking about next year’s presentations. Although an exact deadline for abstract submission has yet to be announced, she said that the closing date will be in July 2012.
