Prosonix, a speciality pharmaceutical company of Oxford, U.K., has signed a collaborative research agreement with Imperial College London to accelerate the development of engineered multi-component particles (MCPs) as respiratory medicines.

The collaboration will see Prosonix working closely with Dr. Omar Usmani, an internationally recognized expert in respiratory diseases and inhaled drug delivery at the College's National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI). Together, they aim to develop a deeper understanding of how MCPs can be translated into new respiratory medicines with significant clinical benefits compared to existing combination formulations in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma.

The scope of the collaboration is to investigate MCPs in in vitro and in vivo models of the lung. It will also compare key performance criteria, including synergistic effects in reducing inflammation and improving bronchodilation resulting from co-localisation of active drug components, with other combination formulations including marketed combination products.

Prosonix' drug particle engineering approach and expertise has enabled the development of MCPs that combine two active respiratory drug molecules consistently in a pre-determined ratio in each and every particle in the formulation, without the need for additional excipients.

"Co-localization of active components in respiratory drug combinations in the lung may offer the potential for an enhanced clinical effect and therapeutic efficacy that is currently not fully achieved with current combinations,” said Usmani. “With better treatment of respiratory diseases requiring improved combinations for these reasons, we are extremely interested in Prosonix' particle engineering approach and multi-component particles to determine whether they can demonstrate clinical synergy and thus provide a novel and effective means of delivering respiratory combinations."

Excipient-free, drug-only MCPs engineered by Prosonix that will be evaluated in the project include inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) with long-acting beta-agonist (LABA), and LABAs with long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMA).

Results from the collaboration are intended to accelerate the development of Prosonix' PSX2000 MCP Series of novel combination medicines, with the aim of advancing one or more MCP candidates into formal preclinical/proof of concept studies in 2013.