Bespak and Upperton are combining their respective drug-development capabilities in a new collaboration aimed at helping pharmaceutical companies move nasal drug products from early formulation work through clinical development and, ultimately, commercial manufacture. The partnership brings together Bespak’s expertise in nasal delivery devices, engineering, industrialisation and commercial supply with Upperton’s formulation development, analytical and clinical manufacturing capabilities.

The companies say the collaboration is designed to address a growing development challenge: coordinating the formulation, device and manufacturing elements of a nasal drug product early enough to avoid unnecessary complexity later in the program. The need is particularly relevant to developers working on systemic central nervous system (CNS) therapies and emerging nose-to-brain approaches, where nasal administration is being explored as an alternative route for delivering medicines.

Under the collaboration, developers will have access to an integrated development pathway covering early opportunity assessment, formulation and device development, clinical supply, scale-up and commercial manufacturing. The offering will encompass liquid, soft mist and dry powder formulations, supported by Bespak’s expanded portfolio of proprietary single- and multi-dose nasal devices.

Rather than treating the formulation and delivery device as separate development workstreams, Bespak and Upperton intend to bring their respective specialists into programs at an earlier stage. The companies believe this approach can help development teams identify formulation-device interactions sooner, make key technical decisions earlier and reduce the number of handoffs between suppliers as a program advances.

Chris Hirst, CEO of Bespak, says nasal delivery is becoming an increasingly important area of drug development, particularly for systemic CNS and nose-to-brain applications. “Nasal drug delivery is an exciting and rapidly evolving area,” Hirst said. “However, successful development requires formulation, device and manufacturing strategies to work together from the outset.”

He adds that the Upperton collaboration complements Bespak’s expanded nasal device portfolio by adding formulation and analytical capabilities to the offering. The combined model, according to Bespak, is intended to give customers a more coordinated route through development while establishing the requirements for clinical and commercial supply at an earlier stage.

For Upperton, the collaboration extends its formulation development and manufacturing capabilities into a broader drug-device development model. Nikki Whitfield, CEO of Upperton, says the performance of a nasal drug product depends on understanding the relationship between its formulation, delivery device and manufacturing requirements.

“By combining Upperton’s formulation, analytical and clinical manufacturing expertise with Bespak’s device engineering and commercialization capabilities, we can provide customers with coordinated support across the development journey,” Whitfield says.

The companies expect their teams to work together on individual programs, with the aim of helping developers resolve critical technical questions earlier and establish a clearer route from formulation development to clinical supply and commercialization. The collaboration comes as nasal drug delivery continues to attract interest across a range of therapeutic applications. For developers pursuing CNS and nose-to-brain programs in particular, the ability to coordinate formulation and device development may become an increasingly important consideration as candidates progress towards human studies and later-stage manufacturing.