Irish science center AMBER (Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research), located at Trinity College Dublin, has announced that investigator Anne Marie Healy has received a €600,000 grant from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) for development of a new mucolytic therapy dry powder inhaler. Clinical trials are expected to begin within five years.
Development of the DPI for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, asthma, and COPD is part of two larger NIH projects directed by John Fahy of the University of California San Francisco. Fahy’s group is developing thiol-saccharides as dry powder formulations for delivery to the lung.
Healy commented, “I am delighted to be part of a translational NIH project, which aims to take the research from bench to bedside. Ireland has the highest incidence of cystic fibrosis in the world, with approximately 1 in 19 Irish people carrying one copy of the altered gene that causes the condition. In addition, Ireland has the 4th highest prevalence of asthma in the world, with almost 5,000 asthma admissions to hospital on average each year. Our proposed new treatment has the potential to greatly improve the respiratory function of these patients with lung disease, thus improving overall quality of life and reducing hospital admissions.”
Fahy said, “This NIH funded collaboration between UCSF, TCD and UCD addresses an unmet need for a well-tolerated and easily delivered mucolytic drug, with application to multiple lung diseases, particularly cystic fibrosis, asthma and COPD. I am delighted to be working with Professor Anne Marie Healy who brings expertise in the optimiz.ation of drug formulations for delivery as dry powders.”
Read the AMBER press release.
