Insys Therapeutics has announced that it will partner with Senzer Ltd, a subsidiary of Kind Consumer, to develop inhaled dronabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) products. Insys has licensed Senzer’s delivery technology, the same technology in the Voke nicotine inhaler, which was approved in the UK in September 2014.
Senzer CEO and Kind Consumer founder Alex Hearn said,”The Senzer technology involves no heat or combustion and as a result produces no ash or smoke. It also doesn’t require a battery or other energy source and is activated simply by the user’s inhalation. We are excited to be working with Insys to potentially deliver synthetic pharmaceutical cannabinoids, such as THC and CBD in this unique inhalation system.”
To oversee development, Insys has hired Brent Donovan and Oscar Liu from Merck and Lein-Lung (LL) Sheu from Ikaria. Donovan, who most recently headed the Respiratory Product Development Group at Merck, will serve as Senior Director, Pharmaceutical Research, with Liu as Director, Pharmaceutical Research. Sheu, most recently Chief Technology Officer at Ikaria, has been named Senior VP, Manufacturing.
According to Insys, it is looking at various indications for the inhalers, including the treatment of nausea, vomiting, and neuropathic pain in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, and lists a dozen conditions which might benefit from cannabinoid therapies. The company currently markets Subsys fentanyl sublingual spray for breakthrough cancer pain.
Insys President and CEO Michael Babich commented, “This unique inhalation delivery technology will complement our portfolio of in-market products, and developmental-stage synthetic pharmaceutical cannabinoids and sublingual sprays. With our commitment to cannabinoids, we believe this partnership is a step forward to potentially establish Insys as a frontrunner in this arena.”
Read the Insys press release.
