Summary

CUPIDO^[1] aims to hit the “heart” of the cardiovascular system, developing inhalable nanoparticles combined with a Dry Powder Inhaler (DPI) that can deliver a therapy to the diseased heart. During concept phase of DPI development, it is gainful to have multiple fast iterations; this requires the use of prototyping methods employing raw material which is not the final one. DPI performances were evaluated in terms of device resistance, emitted fraction and fine particle fraction. These performances have been compared between DPI made of different prototyping methods and DPI made in molded plastic parts in final material. Results show an impact of the prototyping methods on the DPI performances and there is no prototyping method predicting the performances of the DPI made with final molded material with a precision lower than 10%. The DPI performances with microembedded nanoparticles for cardiovascular disease highlight the good behaviour of the powder and a predicted excellent pulmonary deposition.

Key message

The prototyping methods have different impacts on inhaler device performance. We did not find any relevant prototyping method to predict with precision the performances of the DPI.