Prosonix Ltd (Oxford, UK) is delighted to announce a new agreement for the application of its proprietary ultrasonic particle engineering technology in the pharmaceutical industry. This new agreement has been concluded with Aeropharm (Rudolstadt, Germany) and is concerned with the development and manufacture of a new generation of "difficult-to-make" generic products. According to a recent industry report, the market size for inhaled medicines is expected to rise to $58 billion in 2012.  With a significant portion of these revenues available for near term generic substitution, and inhaled drug delivery representing one of the most difficult material science challenges from an equivalence perspective, there is an ideal opportunity to leverage a new ultrasonic particle engineering led approach to generate lasting and significant commercial advantage.

Limitations of conventional crystallization techniques for the manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients typically result in the need for milling or micronisation to achieve the small particle size necessary for delivery via inhalation. Such secondary manufacturing destructive based techniques can be unnecessary and more importantly can adversely affect a range of highly important physicochemical properties of the active pharmaceutical ingredient. This can lead to problems in formulation preparation and variability in drug product performance. Using Prosonix's sonocrystallization technology can eliminate the need for milling and micronization by enabling the construction and isolation of ideal crystalline particles directly from solution. The particles have optimum size and shape, and can be "designed for purpose" to have ideal performance enhancing attributes for delivery by pMDI, DPI, and nebulisation platforms. Commenting on the deal, Prosonix CEO David Hipkiss said, "I am delighted to be able to announce this new collaboration with Aeropharm, an affiliate of Sandoz and an acknowledged and emergent leader in the very challenging area of generic inhaled medicines. It provides further validation of the Prosonix business strategy, with our technology offering several significant advantages over current milling and micronization methods. By collaborating with Aeropharm we will ensure the strength and size to see any success through to full commercialization and we look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead."

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