Delegates enjoyed spring weather at the Congress gala
Scientific sessions on Day 3 included “Developing Delivery Devices for Infants and Children,” “Aerosol Delivery of Biotherapeutics,” and “Molecular Approaches to Improve Inhaled Drug Delivery.” In addition, each of the six sponsoring CROs that offer inhalation toxicology services — Battelle, Charles River, Huntingdon Life Sciences, ITR, IITRI, and Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute — gave short presentations during lunch.
In the pediatric device session, Israel Amirav described development of the “Soother Mask,” a face mask that allows insertion of a baby’s pacifier; as the baby sucks on the pacifier, the mask achieves a good seal to the face. According to Amirav, the Soother Mask will be available commercially within a few months.
The session on biotherapeutics began with Ralph Niven of Novartis presenting a comprehensive review of “Successes and Failures with Aerosolized Biomolecules.” Niven gives the field an a grade of “D” for understanding post-deposition events but an “A” for perseverance, especially given the difficulty of getting funding in the wake of the Exubera failure.
On the subject of Exubera, John Patton of Dance Pharmaceuticals declared without hesitation that “Pfizer CEO Jeff Kindler killed Exubera,” going on to call Kindler “incompetent” and a “clown.” Despite the Exubera failure, Patton asserted that the benefits of inhaled insulin will eventually overcome any concerns about safety and asserted that, “Inhaled insulin will be back.”
The day’s networking meeting featured the Imaging, Modeling, and Physiology of Aerosols in the Lung networking group.
In the evening, delegates boarded buses to the Fearrington Barn in Pittsboro, NC for the Congress Gala, an evening of barbecue and other Southern favorites accompanied by live country music.
