Transpire Bio has tapped Recipharm to support the development of its inhaled respiratory disease drug candidates. The agreement positions Transpire to tap into Recipharm’s experience of developing and manufacturing inhaled drug products as it seeks to advance its programs toward the clinic.
Miami-based Transpire’s pipeline features a range of treatments for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) based on dry powder, multi dose and soft mist inhaler technologies. All of the candidates are at the formulation and device development stages, with in vitro bioequivalence to follow before Transpire starts pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies in humans.
Transpire has brought Recipharm on board to help with the development of two of its asthma and COPD candidates, TRB-1 and TRB-2.
“Our mission is to improve access to important, life-saving inhaled therapies, and to introduce new inhaled therapies to help address areas of significant unmet medical need. TRB-1 and TRB-2 are our first offerings in development which will help improve access for potentially millions of patients,” Transpire CEO Xian-Ming Zeng, Ph.D., said in a statement.
News of the deal comes shortly after Recipharm expanded its pressurized metered-dose inhaler (pMDI) capabilities. The expansion is intended to position the company to support drugmakers as they work to switch to propellants with lower global warming potential (GWP) than HFA134a.
While less harmful to the environment than older propellants, HFA134a is a greenhouse gas with a GWP of 1,300, indicating that it is 1,300 times more potent than carbon dioxide. When used in large-volume inhalers, HFA134a and other greenhouse gases can make notable contributions to emissions. One study put the per-dose carbon footprint of Ventolin pMDI as equivalent to driving a mile in a small car.