Aerogen (Galway, Ireland) has revealed details of a broad collaborative effort with more than 15 pharmaceutical companies for the development of covid-19 vaccines and treatments. In March 2020, Aerogen formed a covid-19 response unit to support research projects. Several of these collaborations are already in clinical trials, with others on-track to enter studies on moderately and severely ill covid-19 patients soon.
One of the collaborations is with biotechnology company Synairgen (Southampton, UK), to use the Aerogen Solo/Ultra nebuliser for the delivery of SNG001 (inhaled interferon-beta-1a), directly to the lungs of covid-19 patients.
The Aerogen Solo is a closed-system, single-patient use (vibrating mesh) aerosol drug delivery technology, which the company says offers superior performance across all hospital ventilation modalities. A closed-circuit design reduces the risk to others of exposure to bioaerosols. The medication reservoir is isolated from the breathing circuit, which minimises nebulisation of contaminated fluids.
In a clinical trial in hospitalised covid-19 patients, SNG001 reduced the likelihood of developing severe disease by 79% compared with placebo (OR 0.21 [95% CI 0.04-0.97]; p=0.046), a significant reduction.
Link to Aerogen Press Release