Lonza Pharma & Biotech has established a new Center of Excellence for DPI development at its location in Bend, OR, USA, the company said. The site originally belonged to spray drying specialist Bend Research, which was acquired by Capsugel in 2013; Capsugel was subsequently acquired by Lonza in 2017.
According to Lonza, “the core service offer is comprised of a head-to-head evaluation of particle engineering approaches (spray drying and micronization), along with capsule-based DPI formulation design and development.” Lonza’s Capsugel division launched the Zephyr line of DPI capsules in 2019. The center’s focus will be on early development, with DPI capsules ready for feasibility studies as soon as 12 weeks after initiation of a project, the company said.
Lonza Pharma and Biotech Senior VP Christian Dowdeswell commented, “Drug delivery via the lung is an increasingly viable treatment option for a number of therapeutic areas. We have determined a growing market need for service partners that have both particle engineering expertise as well as integrated product development solutions that can effectively advance customer molecules utilizing the DPI format while minimizing program risk and complexity.”
Product Development Lead Herbert Chiou added, “The key challenge for respiratory delivery remains the ability to engineer stable drug particles. We provide DPI formulation services based on our vast experience in particle engineering, formulation design and encapsulation techniques tailored to the target product profile and delivery device.”
Read the Lonza Pharma & Biotech press release.
