Insys Therapeutics has announced that it plans to advance clinical research of a breath activated dronabinol (THC) inhaler in the second half of 2018. The company said that it plans to develop the inhaler for the treatment of anorexia in AIDS and cancer patients and for agitation in Alzheimer’s disease patients.
In 2015, Insys announced that it had licensed the Voke inhaler from Senzer, a subsidiary of Kind Consumer, for dronabinol and cannabidiol products. Kind Consumer’s Voke nicotine inhaler was approved by the MHRA for smoking cessation in 2014.
Insys Senior VP or R&D Venkat Goskonda commented, “Senzer’s proprietary inhalation technology involves no heat or combustion to deliver the therapeutic molecule to the distal lung, an important attribute in connection with dronabinol, which requires an ambient temperature to maintain molecular stability. Our partner’s hand-held device is actuated by the user’s inhalation, obviating the need for the hand-breath coordination that is required with traditional metered-dose inhalers.”
Senzer CEO Alex Hearn said, “We are excited to be supporting Insys on its clinical development program for dronabinol inhalation. The device we have licensed to Insys is a unique inhalation system—distinct from a nebulizer—because it does not require a battery or a heating element to operate. Importantly as well, the technology inside the device has already been approved by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the MHRA.”
Read the Insys Therapeutics press release.
