Zeteo Biomedical is moving beyond nasal drug delivery and into pulmonary applications with AriesMR, a reloadable dry powder inhaler intended to actively disperse pharmaceutical powders without depending on a patient’s inhalation effort. The device is the latest application of the company’s ZTECH-P pulmonary drug-delivery platform. Rather than relying on the airflow generated when a patient inhales through a conventional passive dry powder inhaler, AriesMR incorporates a mechanical energy source to generate the aerosol.

This approach could be relevant to drug developers working on inhaled therapies where consistent powder dispersion and dose delivery are important considerations. According to Zeteo, the platform is designed to operate independently of device orientation and allows aerosolization and dosing characteristics to be configured around the properties of a particular formulation and its particles.

“AriesMR extends technologies we have developed and refined for nasal powder delivery into a pulmonary platform,” says Timothy Sullivan, Founder and CEO, Zeteo.

The company is positioning the device as a potential option for combination-product programs, particularly as inhaled-drug developers continue to investigate alternatives to propellant-based delivery systems. AriesMR uses replaceable unit-dose powder cartridges housed within a mechanically actuated inhaler. The device can store as many as six cartridges and features a removable mouthpiece that can be replaced. The inhaler does not require a battery and is intended to function regardless of its orientation during use.

One of the platform’s features is its ability to accommodate both single-API and dual-API products. Zeteo says separate powder formulations can remain isolated in the primary packaging until administration, potentially addressing situations in which maintaining separate formulations could be advantageous for stability, compatibility or other development considerations. For pharmaceutical companies, that architecture could provide an alternative to conventional approaches that require multiple active ingredients to be incorporated into a single formulation.

Zeteo is presenting AriesMR as part of a broader combination-product development offering rather than solely as an inhaler platform. The company says its capabilities span device engineering, formulation and particle optimization, unit-dose primary packaging, product characterization and manufacturing technology. Those capabilities are intended to cover development activities ranging from early feasibility and preclinical work through clinical development and eventual commercial scale-up. The pulmonary initiative builds on Zeteo’s work in other non-invasive delivery routes, including nasal, nose-to-brain, ophthalmic and sublingual applications.

Learn more: https://zeteobiomed.com/pulmonary-drug-delivery/.