The Agenda For DDL19 - Drug Delivery to the Lungs

Main Category: Respiratory / Asthma
Also Included In: Pharmacy / Pharmacist;  Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry;  Medical Devices / Diagnostics
Article Date: 23 Oct 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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As the nineteenth Drug Delivery to the Lungs (DDL) conference rapidly approaches, DDL Chairman Sandy Munro offers his views on what he anticipates to be the highlights for this years' conference; including the aim to maintain DDL's unique format, promote its international reach and reveal what's in store for next year's 20th anniversary event.

Sandy is no newcomer to DDL, his association with the event dates back to 1999, when the conference was a much smaller affair attracting a couple of hundred delegates. Although the venue has changed and the number of delegates has more than doubled, the original principles still remain - to complement the other existing International Inhaled Product Development Conferences, by providing a niche event, dedicated to technical excellence in the field of pulmonary drug delivery.

DDL has grown organically in delegate numbers year on year and this year's conference, running from the 10th till 12th December, once again at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, endeavours not to disappoint. Sandy comments: "One of the key objectives for DDL is to make sure that it constantly evolves in line with delegate expectations. With this in mind, delegates and exhibitors will immediately notice that the first change to this years' event is that it now spans three days. Our decision to extend the spread of the event, has been driven by a desire to enhance the networking and collaboration opportunities and to improve flexibility for session attendance. We have done this as a result of feedback received from last year's event. While this may be a small change, we feel it demonstrates our desire to be responsive to delegate suggestions and the value and significance that we place on our delegates' contributions to shaping the future of DDL."

As a conference that was originally conceived as a meeting of minds for individuals working in the area of pharmaceutical aerosols, it's evident that these values are still firmly embedded in the DDL of today. Sandy continues, "DDL would not exist if it wasn't for the original members of the Aerosol Society that started the conference and that is why we continually strive to ensure that we position ourselves apart from some of the more commercial conferences. DDL is dedicated to the development of inhaled products, which is why we aim to maintain our high technical content, while also giving many individuals their first opportunity to present their work to an international audience. Another unique element is our spectrum of speakers. Where else would you find pre-eminent industry experts and post-graduate students commenting together on subjects so critical to the development of inhaled medicines.

Not only does DDL offer a truly rounded perspective that is believed to be unmatched, but as a conference that began life as a UK-based event, it now enjoys a very international following. Boasting a truly global premier sponsor list including leading pharmaceutical and services companies such as Pfizer, 3M, Novartis, Catalent, Bespak and Vectura, DDL covers all aspects of inhaled product development. "The diversity of conference attendees has undergone some significant expansion, adds Sandy. "We've evolved from a predominately UK-based conference to now enjoy increasing involvement from Universities across Europe, US technology companies and great support from Canada. This year we will also welcome delegates from new companies in Japan, China and the Middle East as well as from Universities as far afield as Australia. We really feel that we are now in a position to offer global appeal to anybody who has an interest in delivering inhaled medicines for respiratory and other disease."

With subjects such as Quality by Design, novel therapies, the evolution of the partnership between universities & industry and polymers and particles, topping the agenda, DDL19 aims to address the issues that everybody's talking about. Sandy shares some of what he anticipates to be headliners from this year's event, "Broadening the application of QbD to aerosols and shared learning, continues to be a key focus area for inhaled product developers. With changing regulatory expectations, it is vital that we have a better understanding and control over our manufacturing processes. In the future it won't be tenable to deliver expensive therapeutics via inefficient lung delivery processes, therefore at DDL, we need to maintain a focus on this area in order to help companies understand how they can meet future demands, whether that be through e.g. new process measurement technologies or a more systematic experimental design approach."

"The industry is constantly looking at new ways in which to get therapeutics into the lungs and through sessions such as, "Innovative approaches to developing new Inhaled Therapies" (Session 4), DDL strives to remain at the forefront of sharing the best in these technologies, while proving a forum for improving the overall understanding of our target diseases and the best ways in which they may be treated."

In response to the increased reliance that pharmaceutical companies have on academic institutes to complement their internal efforts, both to improve scientific understanding and also to help them capture new intellectual property, DDL have dedicated an entire session to this particular subject. Session three on Thursday 11 December aims to provide a balanced position on how to optimise and improve upon the partnership between universities and industry, and at the same time provide a platform for universities to voice 'What's hot in their shop'."

Sandy's final highlight for the event is session 2 on Thursday morning titled "Polymers and Particles: The problem or the solution". "This is a critical area for those individuals who live and breathe inhalation products and DDL19 will be focussing heavily on these areas via this session. It has always amazed that apparently insignificant changes to plastics, polymers, mouldings, or excipient material properties, can dramatically impact upon the performance of an inhaled product. This, when considered with the fact that many of the materials used in the products are bulk commodities or natural products and therefore may be subject to uncontrolled change or natural variation, raises some very difficult challenges for the industry.

Sandy concludes, "As with past years, we will once again be holding a drinks reception on the Thursday evening, which gives delegates a superb opportunity to view the scientific posters, network with some of the world's leading industry specialists as well as providing the delegates unparalleled access to the 38 exhibiting companies. In addition to the drinks and nibbles there will be live music, the winners of the poster prizes will also be announced so this part of the conference is, as ever, sure to be a great success and is usually acts as the springboard to a great night out in the beautiful city of Edinburgh for the vast majority of delegates.

"I'm incredibly proud to be part of DDL and the opportunity it provides in bringing so many people together to altruistically share information that will assist us in our common goal to transform the quality of, or even save the lives of our patients with the medicines we develop. Long may DDL continue to grow and evolve as one of the premier international events of its kind, and with our twentieth anniversary next year, there's a lot to look forward to. We're anticipating that DDL20 will be the biggest and best DDL conference ever, a celebration of what we've achieved over the last two decades. There will be the grand gala dinner and I'm sure we'll spend some time reflecting on the progress of inhaled medicines over the past 20 years and also take a look at future drivers for the industry."

For the full programme for DDL19 please visit http://www.aerosol-soc.org.uk

Sandy Munro biography

After completing a chemistry degree at Edinburgh University and a PhD in synthetic organic chemistry at the University of East Anglia, Sandy joined the Glaxo organisation in 1987 as an analytical scientist. In 1992 he joined the inhaled product development department, holding a variety of positions within the UK and the US, which culminated in a role as the global director of inhaled science and technology within GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Sandy left GSK in 2008 after over 20 years of service to join Vectura as the Director of Respiratory Development at the firm's Nottingham facility. Vectura is a product development company focussed on the development of a range of inhaled therapies principally for the treatment of respiratory diseases. At Vectura Sandy leads a multi-disciplinary group of 60 scientists working on a diverse range of new products as well as novel formulations and delivery systems technologies to facilitate the delivery of inhaled products.

About DDL

Since 1986, The Aerosol Society has held an annual conference providing specialists in different fields of aerosol drug delivery the opportunity to meet, present and then discuss and debate their work. Conference proceedings, in the form of bound extended abstracts, are then published and used as an invaluable reference tool for the Society's members. For more information please visit http://www.ddl-conference.org.uk

About The Aerosol Society

Formed in 1986 to provide a national forum whereby various groups involved in different aspects of aerosol research are able to interact and co-ordinate their efforts. The Society aims to promote all scientific branches of aerosol research, to promote the spread of information, to make available a pool of expert knowledge, to encourage international co-operation, assist in training, and to encourage investment in aerosol research. For more information please visit http://www.aerosol-soc.org.uk

Source
Kelly Cocks
Realia
http://www.realia-marketing.com

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