DPI deal taps new market for Inyx

The deal has been struck with Inyx' UK-based subsidiary Inyx Pharma and will see the latter company manufacture upwards of 200,000 DPI devices a year for a product aimed at the asthma sector.

The identity of the partner has not been disclosed, but observers have suggested that it may be a generic pharmaceutical company. Inyx Pharma has been building up its capabilities in DPIs, and has developed devices for two commonly-used generic asthma drugs, the corticosteroid beclomethasone dipropionate and beta agonist bronchodilator salbutamol.

In October, Inyx also signed an agreement with an unnamed pan-European generic manufacture for a nasal spray formulation of beclomethasone dipropionate which is due to roll out in the spring of 2004. The product will be a generic rival to products such as GlaxoSmithKline's Beconase nasal spray, which was switched to over-the-counter status in the UK in 1994.

Inyx​ said it has developed a semi-automatic production process for DPIs which includes bulk manufacture, device assembly, filling and packaging. The company also makes metered dose inhalers (MDIs), topical and sterile saline aerosols and metered dose pumps sprays.

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is also treated with inhaled anti-inflammatories and bronchodilators, affect about 10 per cent of the population in industrialised countries. The global asthma pharmaceutical treatment market alone is estimated to have reached $11.5 billion (€9.5bn) annually, according to industry research group Datamonitor.