Nebu-Flow

Nebu-Flow is a spin-out from the University of Glasgow, developing an aerosol platform technology with primary applications in pulmonary drug delivery, but also in ventilator humidification, mass spectrometry and spray-drying.

Respiratory diseases, such as asthma and cystic fibrosis, are usually treated by the inhalation of aerosols, where the effective delivery of medication is crucially dependent upon the droplet size to be between one and five micrometers.

Larger droplets are caught in the upper respiratory tract, while smaller ones are exhaled before they can be adsorbed – neither reach the patient.

The Nebu-Flow technology is based on the control of the mechanical energy carried by acoustic waves, to disperse liquids in the form of aerosols. It provides a unique control on the aerosol droplet size within the clinically effective range for efficient respiratory drug delivery.

The technology is able to nebulise a much wider range of therapeutics than existing techniques, including existing drugs (i.e. suspension) and emerging 'high-value' biologics and nanomedicines, which will be critically important in new treatments, currently unavailable to patients.

Nebu-Flow aims to partner with pharmaceutical and medical device companies to develop drug/device combinations and enable the delivery of currently limited formulations, critical in new therapies, for example for lung hypertension and cystic fibrosis.