Lonza has expanded its service offering for spray-drying of proteins for pulmonary delivery. The new offering reportedly provides clinical and commercial manufacturing services at a kilogram scale from Lonza’s Bend-OR site, home to Lonza’s Center of Excellence for respiratory delivery.
In the past, the respiratory drug pipeline was primarily dominated by small molecules. Today, approximately 30% of therapies in this pipeline are biologics, with anticipated growth to 50% by 2030.1 The administration of protein-based therapies to treat respiratory disease has historically been limited to intravenous or subcutaneous injections, which require frequent and costly administration and rely on patient compliance.
The focused and local delivery method of a solid protein formulation to the lung offers a viable alternative that can also reduce dose and off-target exposure, according to a Lonza spokesperson. Shelf-stable dry powder inhalers improve patient access worldwide by reducing reliance on cold chain logistics.
“Pulmonary delivery of solid protein formulations using a dry powder inhaler is a growing trend among drug developers,” says Kimberly Shepard, director, respiratory delivery, Lonza. “Our new clinical offering further strengthens [our] spray-drying expertise and provides manufacturing capacity from early-phase to commercial supply.”
1C. Berg, Inhaled Biologics Conference, April 14, 2023, Gaithersburg, MD
