New delivery method gets drugs into the lungs

Researchers at Columbia University in New York have developed a method that can target delivery of very small volumes of drugs into the lung

In this method, micro-litres of liquid containing a drug are instilled into the lung, distributed as a thin film in the predetermined region of the lung airway, and absorbed locally.

Lungs are susceptible to many diseases that are currently treated by systemic application of drugs, by oral intake, or aerosol inhalation. 

However, in order to achieve therapeutic levels at the pathological site, physicians need to deliver large amounts of the drug that may cause adverse effects to other organs in the body. 

Lung diseases could be more effectively treated if the drug of choice could be delivered locally to the pathologic site in the lung, at the exact dose needed for the treatment.

Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, professor at the Columbia University, said: “We envision that our micro-volume liquid instillation approach will enable predictable drug concentrations at the target site, reducing the amount of drug required for effective disease treatment with significantly reduced side effects.”

The research was published online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).