First European inhalable therapy for group 3 pulmonary hypertension combining a novel drug with novel technique

Purpose and goal

Around 60 million people suffer from pulmonary hypertension (PH), a disease in which the blood vessels of the lungs become too narrow, the blood pressure in the lungs becomes too high and the right heart is overloaded and eventually damaged. One group of PH, group 3, is caused by chronic lung disease. This group with no registered treatment in Europe, has the worst prognosis (average survival after diagnosis 4.1 years). The project aims to develop a treatment for PH group 3 by utilizing the vasodilating substance PDNO and an innovative technique to be able to give it to the lungs by inhalation.

Expected effects and result

The consortium behind the project intends to develop a portable device that will resemble an e-cigarette and have a user-friendly design. In this, a further developed form of Surflays Nanotechs´s patented layer-on-layer (LbL) technology with porous nanoparticles will be used to bind PDNO in a filter, from which it will be releasad upon mild heating and inhalation. To register the effects of PDNO inhalation Attgeno will have the device tested in animal models . The goal is to be able to demonstrate positive effects and thereby enable the start of a phase 2 study in patients with PH group 3.

Planned approach and implementation

In a first step, Attgeno will develop a high-quality production method for PDNO and then use this to produce PDNO for the inhalation experiments. In parallel, Surflauys will develop the optimized device for storage, and during inhalation, controlled release of PDNO. A first validation of the effects in the pulmonary circulation will be carried out by Örebro Universitet where anesthetized pigs are allowed to inhale PDNO while measuring pressure and flows. As a final step, the effects of PDNO inhalation will be tested in an animal model that mimics PH group 3.