Dry powder inhaler developer Iconovo has announced that the company will invest approximately 20 million SEK over about 3 years to develop a new platform for development of generic versions of Ellipta DPI products. The platform will include a new device called ICOpre and custom dry powder formulations that will be pre-filled.
The company said that the generic Ellipta products will be aimed at the global market, including the US where regulations require that the device would need to be pre-filled because the Ellipta DPIs are pre-filled. According to Iconovo, the ICOpre will also meet all other European and US requirements for generics.
The patents protecting Ellipta products will begin expiring in 2025, Iconovo notes, and the value of the those inhalers is expected to be approximately $5 billion in 2024. Patents covering the Ellipta device will not expire until 2030; however, the ICOpre device will be based on novel technology and will therefore not be constrained by the Ellipta device patents.
Iconovo CEO Orest Lastow commented, “This is the biggest and most important investment in Iconovo’s five-year history. With the ICOpre-platform we will be able to reach, not only the European market, but also the very valuable US market. We are one of the companies in the world capable of offering a comprehensive inhalation platform including both an inhalation device and dry powder formulation.”
Read the Iconovo press release.
