Transforming
Respiratory Drug Delivery

Developing the next generation of nebulisers to enable the delivery of life changing treatments

Transforming Respiratory Drug Delivery

Developing the next generation of nebulisers to enable the delivery of life changing treatments

The Vision

Nebu~Flow is unlocking the delivery of the next generation of inhaled drugs for patients with respiratory disorders, the main cause of death and disability worldwide.

Respiratory diseases are known as the leading causes of death and disability in the world, with an estimated clinical costs of €400bn/year. In the UK, the British Lung Foundation estimates that 10,000 people are diagnosed with a lung disorder every week.

Number of People in the UK who are diagnosed with a lung disorder every week

Generally, patients with such respiratory diseases are treated by the inhalation of aerosols, where the effective delivery of medication is crucially dependent upon the droplet size distribution. Larger drops are caught in the upper respiratory tract, while smaller ones are exhaled before they can be adsorbed — neither reach the patient. Despite advances in current nebuliser technology (including both jet and mesh systems) the opportunity remains to improve these devices. In particular there are two key technical constraints, namely (i) a limited range of acceptable formulation properties; and (ii) relatively inefficient delivery. These limitations also restrict the adoption of new drugs and vaccines, which have promising potential in treating difficult diseases.

Nebu~Flow is developing a new nebuliser platform using a unique method, based on the interactions between acoustics, microstructured arrays and liquids, to control droplet size in the aerosols generated, within the clinically effective range, with the proven potential to also enable further precision within that range. The platform has already demonstrated its capability to nebulise a wide range of therapeutics including existing drugs and emerging “high-value” biologics and nanomedicines, which will be critically important in new treatments; for example for cystic fibrosis.

About us

Nebu~Flow is comprised of a team of passionate technologist and experts in the respiratory drug delivery with a vision to develop next generation of nebulisers for inhalation drug delivery.

Nebu~Flow (registered as Acu-Flow Limited) is an innovative medical device company developing the next generation of nebuliser to enable efficient delivery of hard-to-nebulise drugs to the lungs, including both existing formulations and emerging novel high-value therapeutics such as biologics, nanomedicines and vaccines. Many of these latter drugs are potentially life-changing formulations with no available method for direct delivery to the lung and therefore currently have greatly reduced clinical utility.

Nebu~Flow is collaborating with world-renowned specialists to develop its unique nebuliser to deliver fragile and hard-to-nebulise drugs including formulation containing suspensions, surface active and biological active compounds.

Meet the Team

The Technology

Nebu~Flow is developing its patented nebuliser platform that enables efficient delivery of a wide range of formulations

Handheld

Short nebulisation time

Easy cleaning

Silent

Wide range of formulations

Nebu~Flow’s patented aerosol formation technology enables the efficient delivery of hard-to-nebulise drugs to the lungs, including both existing formulations and emerging high-value therapeutics such as biologics, nanomedicines and vaccines.

We have demonstrated a new acoustic technology, enabling the creation of monodisperse aerosols with the required size for effective pulmonary drug delivery (between 1 and 5 μm) from a wider range of formulations than previously possible. The technology is based on the control of sound waves on the surface of materials (surface acoustic waves, SAWs).

SAWs are generated on piezoelectric materials through the use of resonant structures (interdigitated electrodes) often used in telecommunications as filters (they are present in mobile phones for example). Upon reaching a volume of liquid placed in their paths, SAWs refract in the liquid, transferring part of the mechanical energy to it, which results into agitation and surface vibration. For MHz frequencies and 10s-100s mW of power, these vibrations at the surface of the liquid lead to drop ejection. By coupling these into a disposable, microstructured arrays, our patented technology provides

(i) the precise control over the aerosol droplet size (>90% in the clinically-useful range: between 1-5µm), significantly enhancing the efficiency of pulmonary drug delivery, reducing treatment time to <10 min; and
(ii) the nebulisation of hard-to-nebulise drugs including emerging “high-cost” biologics and nanomedicines – critically important in many new treatments of common, hard-to-treat diseases.

The platform has been shown to nebulise a wide range of therapeutics including emerging “high-value” biologics and nanomedicines, which have the potential to provide new life-changing treatment e.g. for lung hypertension, cystic fibrosis and tuberculosis.

Patent portfolio

Nebu~Flow has exclusive license to intellectual properties protected by approved and pending patent families and further IP will be derived through the product development stage.

For more information, please contact us.

Team

Dr. Elijah Nazarzadeh

CEO

Dr. Elijah Nazarzadeh has led the Nebu~Flow’s technology and business development through his postdoctoral research at the University of Glasgow. Elijah started the business development by securing an Innovate UK’s ICURe programme and subsequent awarded a Scottish Government supported Unlocking Ambition Fellowship from the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Prof. Steve Beaumont OBE FREng FRSE

Chairman

Professor Beaumont is the Chairman of Nebu~Flow. Steve is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He has significant experience in developing spin-out companies.

Prof. Jon Cooper FREng FRSE

Director

Professor Cooper has already spun successful companies from his research, including Mode-Dx (who signed an agreement with Boots covering bowel cancer diagnostics) and Clyde Biosciences (developing drug screening with three pharmaceutical companies).

Dr. John Pritchard

Director

Dr. John Pritchard has more than 25 years of experience in the field working for GSK, AstraZeneca, 3M and Philips. He received the Charles Thiel Award from Virginia Commonwealth University for outstanding research and discovery in respiratory drug delivery in 2018.

Prof. Dr. Gordon Muirhead GSK Emeritus Senior Fellow

Advisor

Prof. Dr. Gordon Muirhead has more than 20 years of experience in senior roles at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) including 12 years as Vice President of Global New Medicines Introduction within the Global Manufacturing and Supply division of GSK.

Dr. Helen Muirhead FRSC

Advisor

Dr. Helen Muirhead is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry with 42 years of experience of both R&D and Manufacturing including 30 years at GSK. Helen headed up the Respiratory Centre of Excellence during the late stages of Product Development through Regulatory Filing and Commercial Launch and supply of new Medicines.

Dr. Julien Reboud

Scientific Advisor

Dr. Julien Reboud, a co-founder of Nebu~Flow is Senior Lecturer at the University of Glasgow. He is joint winner of the Royal Academy of Engineering ERA Foundation Entrepreneurs Award. Julien brings a long track record of research and application of the SAW technology.

Dr. Helen Erwood

Regulatory Advisor

Dr. Helen Erwood, Director of ESPL, has nearly 30 years of experience in regulatory affairs, working for ICI Pharmaceuticals (now Astra-Zeneca), Rhone Poulenc Rorer (now Sanofi Aventis) and SmithKline Beecham Consumer Healthcare (now GSK Consumer).

Join Nebu~Flow

We are always looking for highly motivated people to join our team across mechanical, electronic, software engineering, or product design for example. Nebu~Flow is a vibrant team of inspiring and driven people with a vision to translate innovation into positive impact on our society, both locally and globally. Please check out Career section (open in new window) for current vacancies or Contact us to learn more about what we do and how your knowledge and expertise could fit within our team.

Get in touch

Email. info@nebuflow.com

Transforming Respiratory Drug Delivery

Transforming Respiratory Drug Delivery

The Vision

Number of People in the UK who are diagnosed with a lung disorder every week

About us

The Technology

Team

Dr. Elijah Nazarzadeh

Prof. Steve Beaumont OBE FREng FRSE

Prof. Jon Cooper FREng FRSE

Dr. John Pritchard

Prof. Dr. Gordon Muirhead GSK Emeritus Senior Fellow

Dr. Helen Muirhead FRSC

Dr. Julien Reboud

Dr. Helen Erwood

Get in touch

Awards

Transforming
Respiratory Drug Delivery