Cambridge Healthcare Innovations (CHI), a start-up designing revolutionary inhaler technology, has announced Quattrii, described as the "first ever" dry powder inhaler (DPI) engine capable of delivering large volumes of biologic and mRNA molecules in a single inhalation. The engine will be available for pharmaceutical companies to start using in Phase 1 clinical trials from Q4 of this year.
Enhanced Drug Delivery Efficiency
Quattrii has been designed to transform the delivery of drugs for conditions that affect the lungs and airways – including lung cancer therapies – as well as systemic conditions where delivery to the lung is more advantageous, like pain management or Parkinson's disease. The technology delivers at least 70% of the drug to lung with each inhalation, while existing inhalers typically only deliver between 10% and 50% of the drug directly to the lung.
The innovation addresses a fundamental limitation in current dry powder inhaler technology. In traditional devices, the drug usually only makes up a small fraction of the formulation – most of it is an inert sugar (lactose), to make it easy to handle and fill in production. Usually, the patient inhales all of this extra powder, which lands in their mouth and throat, causing unpleasant effects and cough, as well as other more serious side-effects when there is drug still attached to the lactose particles.
Lactose Separation Technology
Quattrii is unique in that it separates the active drug from the lactose, and retains the lactose fraction within the blister. As a result, the patient needs to inhale much less total powder to get their required dose, and more of the drug gets to the lungs. This ability to retain the inert lactose means that a patient can inhale their whole active dose in one go, whereas with a traditional inhaler, a high dose would need to be split across multiple inhalations, which each time results in large deposits in the mouth and throat.
Therapeutic Applications
The technology opens possibilities for novel therapies across multiple therapeutic areas. For lung cancer treatment, CHI's DPI engine would enable patients to inhale their treatment directly to the lungs. The benefit of this inhalation technology – in place of traditional intravenous chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy – is the reduced amount the patient must receive to get the required therapeutic effect, and the avoidance of typical side effects such as hair loss and nausea. This also means that patients can receive their dose within a few seconds, rather than over several hours.
Beyond traditional respiratory conditions such as asthma and COPD, CHI claims Quattrii's ability to deliver larger doses opens possibilities for therapies targeting systemic conditions where lung delivery is advantageous, such as Parkinson's disease or pain management.
Expert Endorsements
Dr Jenny Lam, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics at UCL and inhaled biologics expert, commented: "There is considerable worldwide research effort going into novel inhalable biologics and other large molecules, however, existing inhaler technology is just not designed to meet the challenges of delivering these potential blockbuster drugs to patients. CHI's Quattrii DPI is truly unique and offers huge potential for those developing a wide range of drugs that can save the lives of millions of people."
Professor Omar Usmani, Professor of Respiratory Medicine and the Clinical Director of Respiratory Trials at ICRRU (Imperial College Respiratory Research Unit) said: "The respiratory delivery route offers so many advantages for the patient. Some of the new low-potency molecules under development will require inhaler technology that is more precise, more effective, and capable of delivering higher doses. I'm excited by CHI's Quattrii inhaler platform as it addresses these issues and helps to open up the future of respiratory medicine."
Company Background and Future Plans
CEO and Founder of CHI, David Harris, a former Dyson engineer, said: "Respirable drugs offer so much potential, but for too long the lack of innovation in inhaler technology has been a hugely limiting factor. They are either not capable of offering sufficient moisture protection, or of delivering the amount of drug a patient needs in one go, regardless of the vast range of lung and inhalation capacities. There is a better way – and by creating an inhaler from the ground up, that is designed to make the best use of the patient's inhalation energy, we have been able to achieve something that is easier to use and provides much greater efficiency."
The Quattrii platform forms part of a broader licensing agreement between CHI and Aptar Pharma, signed in late 2024, positioning the technology for broader pharmaceutical industry adoption.
