Currently, many pressurised metered-dose inhalers (pMDIs) for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) contain propellants with a high global warming potential (GWP). There is a need to develop inhalers that are more climate friendly such as inhalers with new low GWP propellants, dry powder inhalers (DPIs), nebulisers, and non-propellant soft mist inhalers.
Each delivery system has its advantages and is chosen based on the patient’s needs, preferences, and ability to use the device correctly. It is imperative to make sure the device is suitable for the patient to improve asthma control and have fewer exacerbations. As uncontrolled asthma and COPD lead to excessive healthcare resource utilisation and an increased carbon footprint, ensuring that the respiratory disease is well-controlled benefits both the patient and the environment.
To reduce the environmental impact of respiratory care and to optimise patient outcomes, switching to carbon-neutral pMDIs containing next-generation (low-GWP) propellants or other “greener” inhaler types is necessary. As many asthma and COPD patients rely on pMDIs to deliver essential medicines to their respiratory system, it is important to ensure that the more environmentally friendly inhalers are therapeutically equivalent to the traditionally used alternatives.
A number of trials are required to ensure that altering propellants used in pMDIs does not negatively impact patient care, including pharmacokinetic trials in healthy participants, bioequivalence, efficacy, and safety studies.
We have extensive experience within the hVIVO Group in conducting clinical trials for respiratory health. More specifically, at hVIVO we have experience running asthma studies from our London site and are fully capable of supporting the tests needed to run your respiratory clinical trials. We have experts in-house to help you with:
Formulation development (CMC)
Design of the trial
Pharmacokinetics
Data analysis and reporting
From insight to implementation, we are ready to support your switch to a more sustainabile inhaler solution.
Sign up to our emails and follow us on social media to keep up to date with hVIVO.
