Nanopharm, Leyden Labs to Develop Nasal Spray Drugs

Nanopharm Ltd., an Aptar Pharma company and provider of contract research and development of orally inhaled and nasally delivered drug products (OINDP), and Leyden Labs, a company targeting commonalities of viral families to protect humanity from known and future viruses, have entered into an agreement to develop nasal sprays that may provide broad protection against respiratory viruses, combining Leyden Labs’ portfolio and Nanopharm’s expertise in the development of nasally delivered drug products.

Leyden Labs’ platform targets commonalities of viral families to develop product candidates that protect against many strains of a virus simultaneously with a single product. Its easy-to-use nasal spray product candidates may allow people to immediately protect themselves against infection and transmission of known and new viruses, protecting humanity from the devastating effects of future pandemics and recurring seasonal outbreaks such as influenza and coronaviruses.

Nanopharm will screen and subsequently develop a liquid nasal spray formulation, including performance testing and nasal deposition studies, to prepare Leyden Labs for Phase 1 clinical studies. Formulation approaches utilizing muco-adhesive technologies will be part of the development process to try to achieve maximum deposition and retention in the nasal cavity. In parallel, a powder system may also be assessed to provide long-term stability.

“Leyden Labs is taking a really exciting approach to finding solutions for the broad-spectrum prophylactic protection against respiratory viruses,” said Jag Shur, CEO, Nanopharm. “Their platform and portfolio of product candidates show real promise, and we are proud to be a part of its development to fast-track its approach towards the clinic, utilizing our fundamental scientific understanding of OINDPs and our knowledge of how to expedite product development.”

Guillaume Brouet, vice president analytical, regulatory and scientific affairs, Aptar Pharma, said, “We are pleased to support Leyden Labs in this important development, which reinforces the Aptar Pharma Services mission to further help customers during their entire drug development journey and deliver them a complete solution.”

Koenraad Wiedhaup, CEO, Leyden Labs, said, “Nanopharm’s team has the world-leading expertise needed to understand and develop safe, effective formulations targeting respiratory viruses. This partnership enables us to efficiently bring our product candidates to people in need of better protection against new pandemics and seasonal outbreaks like those caused by influenza and coronaviruses. We look forward to continuing to work with Nanopharm in the future to further develop additional product candidates and swiftly advance them into the clinic.”

All formulation development will be performed at Nanopharm’s facility in Newport, UK, which houses its R&D laboratories for formulation and characterization of inhaled and nasal products, supporting start-up biotech, big pharma or generic companies globally.