Drugs for inhalation are no longer exclusively highly crystalline small molecules. They may also be amorphous small molecules, peptides, antibodies, and myriad types of engineered proteins. The evolution of respiratory therapeutics has created a need for flexible formulation technologies to engineer respirable particles. These technologies have enabled medicinal chemists to focus on molecular design without concern regarding compatibility of physicochemical properties with traditional, blend-based technologies. Therapeutics with diverse physicochemical properties can now be formulated as stable and respirable dry powders. Particle engineering technologies have also driven the deployment of new excipients, giving formulators greater control over particle and powder properties. This plays a key role in enabling efficient delivery of drugs to the lungs. Engineered powder and device combinations enable aerosols that largely bypass the mouth and throat, minimizing the inherent variability among patients that arises from differences in oropharyngeal and airway anatomies and in breathing profiles. This review explores how advances among molecules, particles, and powders have transformed inhaled drug product development. Ultimately, this scientific progress will benefit patients, enabling new classes of therapeutics to be formulated as dry powder aerosols with improved efficacy, reduced variability and side effects, and improved patient adherence.
Keywords: aerosols; amorphous; dry powder inhaler; engineered particles; excipients; inhalation; inhaled by design; powder technology; protein delivery; pulmonary delivery/adsorption.
© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association.