Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

Cambridge Consultants

Innovation category contender, Cambridge Consultants, has just lifted the lid on a new technology that could genuinely revolutionise world health by cheaply vaccinating millions from threats such as Bird Flu.

Engineers from the world-famous technology development company have designed an inhaler for mass vaccination against chronic diseases and global pandemics, like Avian Influenza, which can be manufactured for a little over two pence each.

This astounding price point means that it is even cheaper than a syringe, but Cambridge Consultants says that ‘Conix One,’ as it is called, delivers performance expected of high-end inhalers.

In addition to being cheaper than a syringe, the inhaler is also easier to use and avoids safety limitations such as needle-stick injuries.

The World Health Organ-isation estimates that the number of deaths from a global avian flu pandemic could reach 7.4 million, whilst Datamonitor has estimated that the total cost of a global pandemic could hit $800bn.

Unlike many of the healthcare projects underway at Cambridge Consultants, Conix One is not being developed for a client and the work has been funded by the firm itself.

The company hand-picked a selection of the world’s top pharma companies, which it has kept abreast of the progress of Conix One.

All of those companies are reported to be “very interested” in licensing the technology from Cambridge Consultants.

Large-scale vaccinations are typically delivered via syringe, but for many chronic diseases inhalation offers the optimum delivery mechanism.

Up until now though, the cost of producing an inhaler economically, and with the necessary performance, has not been possible.

This new inhaler has been designed to be used by the patient themselves and then discarded.

This also eliminates the significant risk of needle stick injuries and infection, which in countries where diseases such as HIV are prevalent, poses a real threat to the lives and wellbeing of health workers.

“We believe this inhaler will fundamentally change the way we treat many diseases on a global scale,” says Brian Barney, head of drug delivery at Cambridge Consultants.

“Designed specifically with global pandemics, like H5N1, in mind, we have combined cutting edge technology with smart product design, enabling us to achieve something that has never been seen before.

“It is akin to providing the performance of a sports car at a cost comparable with a moped. It is that significant.”

The new inhaler is based around a novel ‘reverse flow cyclone’ and contains no moving parts or propellants.

In fact, the inhaler is made from a single piece of plastic and costs just four cents to manufacture in high volume – five million per annum.

This ultra-low manufacturing cost is comparable with syringes, which cost between four and eight US cents, and is substantially cheaper than the asthma inhalers on the market today.

These typically comprise around 20 parts and cost at least 40 cents in volume.

Although manufacturing the new inhaler is similar in cost to that of the syringe, there are significant savings to be made as syringes are more expensive to distribute – drug in liquid form typically requires refrigeration – and they require skill and training to use.

The Conix One inhaler uses a simple foil seal to protect the formulation from moisture and many patients can use their devices at the same time, making rollout far faster.

Another Cambridge company, Cambridge Biostability, is attempting to remove the cold chain from the distribution of drugs by suspending the active ingredient in tiny glass-like spheres. Conix One represents a cheaper and safer option, it is understood.

The unique swirling action within the patented cyclone provides an extremely effective deagglomeration process, enabling a large percentage of drug to be delivered efficiently into the lung.

This action also overcomes the problem that many inhalers have, where the drug is released within just a fraction of a second – before the patient has had time to reach their optimal inhalation rate.

The cyclone chamber releases a steady flow of drug over two seconds, enabling better use of a patient’s lung power.

A number of in-house tests with existing formulations from mass market asthma and COPD inhalers have shown that the drug separation mechanism is so efficient that it is up to 40 per cent more effective than many inhalers on the market today.

“Currently, inhalers tend to be focused on specific treatments and are designed to typically contain between 14 and 200 doses.

“This suits conditions such as asthma, as the patient needs to use it three or four times per day, but when you only require a drug to be delivered once, the cost of current inhaler technology is prohibitive,” said Barney.

“We are currently in active discussions with major pharmaceutical and medical device companies who have been universally astounded by the technology and what we have achieved.”

Dr Val Perrin, an independent consultant in pharmaceutical medicine said: “The Conix inhaler is novel both in its overall design and simple mode of operation.

“This bodes well for its use in clinical trials and patient handling studies. Laboratory tests show that it also works well at low inspiratory flow rates, which will be additionally important for subjects such as the elderly and young children.”

Cambridge Consultants has spun out some superb companies over the years in areas ranging from wireless to ink jet technologies. It has created over 20 new ventures in the past 25 years which, in turn, have provided thousands of local jobs and created a fair few millionaires.

One of its current ‘hot’ technologies is a device that can sense people’s presence through walls – a breakthrough that could have major repercussions for security forces fighting terrorism.

The sensor can tell whether the bodies behind the walls are alive or dead and detect numbers.