EPO Grants Hovione Inhaler Patent

The European Patent Office (EPO) has granted a patent for Hovione’s XCaps, a dry powder inhaler (DPI) that addresses a pulmonary inhalation market need for a very inexpensive device combining high efficiency in powder dispersion with ease of use. Lung fractions in excess of 70% have been achieved from a device that only requires two steps to inhalation and only has two components plus a dust cover. This makes XCaps highly suited to inhalation applications where minimal training of patients is desirable, and it has the versatility to treat almost all pulmonary diseases, including asthma and COPD as well as infection, which typically require very large dose delivery.

XCaps follows on the heels of another successful Hovione DPI, TwinCaps, which was developed specifically for an influenza application and is licensed to Daiichi Sankyo and Biota for this application.

Hovione is offering XCaps as a part of its inhalation device portfolio, enabling business partners to take their candidate drugs from the API stage all the way to the unit dose with a single partner.

“We give our customers an edge in speed of development because we are perhaps the only independent company developing DPIs with expertise in every aspect of the inhaled drug development process,” said Peter Villax, Vice-President and co-inventor of the device. “Granting of the European Patent on the XCaps inhaler, within 30 months after initial filing, underpins Hovione’s capabilities in innovation and intellectual property management to successfully design, develop and deliver innovative products, namely, a quality inhalation device, addressing a market need.”

“The XCaps addresses a gap for a simple, easy-to-use, cost-effective, multiple use, capsule-based inhalation device,” said Gonçalo Andrade, Business Development Manager. “This allows our business partners to take advantage of additional patent protection for their inhalation drug product and effective drug product lifecycle management.”

Hovione is currently executing inhaled drug development projects, involving API process development, particle engineering, formulation and clinical supplies, for multiple pharmaceutical companies and is looking for partners willing to incorporate the XCaps into their inhalation drug development.

Hovione, +351 21 982 9362, ipina@hovione.com, www.hovione.com.