A Q&A: Manufacturing Dry Powder Inhaled Formulations By Spray Drying

With lung cancer making up 25% of the total cancer deaths in the U.S. and worldwide, finding effective therapies to treat this global killer is critical.¹ Inhalation delivery systems can offer improved efficacy and other patient benefits but only if particles are manufactured within the correct size and diameter. Spray drying, a highly scalable technique that is suitable for a wide range of APIs, can break particles down into the appropriate size. Understanding the spray-drying process and what challenges you could encounter when executing it is an important step in using this enabling technology for lung cancer indications.

Kimberly Shepard, Ph.D., principal engineer in R&D at Lonza Small Molecules, presented the webinar, Local Delivery for Treatment of Lung Cancer: Manufacturing formulations for dry powder inhaler by spray drying. In it, Dr. Shepard discussed how spray drying can be used to address many of the challenges associated with today’s late-stage lung cancer treatments. She also reviewed two case studies about the use of spray drying for the formulation of two FDA-approved lung cancer treatments and the improved efficacy observed as a result. The following Q&A session was held after this webinar, where Dr. Shepard was able to address attendee questions about the details of the presentation and case studies.