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03 Nov 2021

Loughborough explores greener inhalers

Loughborough University is exploring methods of lowering the environmental impact and boosting performance of inhalers used to treat asthma and COPD.

The project is part of its COP26 campaign, which aims to highlight research that can address environmental issues.

Jointly funded by UKRI Innovate UK, Loughborough's work involves collaboration with drug manufacturer Kindeva. The organisations are looking to develop a new way to deliver medication to the lungs via an inhaler using greener propellants.

Lead researchers Dr Hendrik Versteeg and Prof. Weeratunge Malalasekera, of Loughborough’s School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, are developing computational techniques that model how the drugs are inhaled and delivered to the lungs.

The goal is to reduce the amount of CO2 released by canisters, which is estimated to be around 8.91 million tonnes per year worldwide. A single 13g canister will produce around 18.6g of CO2 annually, the equivalent of a 65-mile car journey, the team said.

The pharmaceutical industry must phase out all pMDI (pressurised metered-dose inhaler) products by 2036, and replace them with products based on propellants with a lower Global Warming Potential (GWP).

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