Spray and mist delivery devices: an innovative route of drug administration
During the last years, drug delivery has evolved and new routes of administration have emerged.
When one thinks of drug administration, one usually has in mind swallowing pills (oral administration) or getting an injection (parenteral administration). But drugs can be delivered through different routes such as enteral route through tubing in the gastrointestinal tract, inhalation through the mouth to reach the lungs or even topical route as applied to the skin (cutaneous, transdermal) or to a mucosa (intranasal, buccal, auricular, ophthalmic,…).
The choice of the route for a drug depends on the site of desired action but also its property, its absorption by the body and the environment of the patient. Over conventional oral or parenteral methods, it is claimed that the topical administration route presents the advantages to be non-invasive and to avoid first-pass metabolism in liver by allowing the drug to enter directly into the circulation system. This is an advantage when rapid drug absorption and onset of action are desired.
Depending on the route, the formulation and the dosage, a device may be needed to administrate the drug properly. Since many years, spray devices have been developed such as nasal or buccal sprays, inhalation systems, or even spray bandage devices. Indeed, spray or mist delivery presents many advantages over other conventional methods:
- • Delivery to limited access area
- • Delivery in any patient position, in particular in any patient’s head position for intranasal, buccal or auricular administration
- • High surface covering: precise delivery of small dose on large surface area, which increases the drug’s bioavailability
- • Safety: non-contact and non-invasive delivery, needle-free
- • Avoidance of residual drug associated unlike patches used for topical or transdermal administration
- • Convenient and easy to use
Recently advances have been made in administration systems of spray but also mist. It is now possible to administrate preservative free solutions through airless dispensing solutions. Furthermore, spray deposition pattern as spray cone angle and break-up length can be monitored through spray nozzle design specific to one drug formulation. Nowadays, current challenges in the development of a spray or mist device lie in:
- • Atomization of highly viscous drug as gels
- • Development of propellant free devices
- • High precision of dosage
- • Controlled and constant ejection flowrate
EVEON is the partner to design and develop airless spray nozzles for gel and highly viscous solutions. EVEON also designs and develops automated propellant free spray devices integrating these nozzles to provide a high control of the dose or the flowrate. All the devices developed by EVEON are adapted to standard primary containers.
➡️ For more information:
- • Discover case study with the key benefits
- • Pharmapack Europe Award 2021, in the exhibitor - administration mode category
- • Read the specific leaflet and latest press release
