Inhaled Formulation Design for the Treatment of Lung Infections

Lung infections may be bacterial, viral or fungal and they are typically treated with oral or parenteral antibiotics. Inhaled dry powder formulations offer unique opportunities for treating lung infections with enhanced effectiveness and stability. Since drug delivery to the lungs requires chronic and repeated administration of larger amounts of therapeutics, dry powder formulations are attractive alternatives to deliver drugs directly to the lungs as they are not limited by solubility issues and they are regarded as being more stable than liquid dosage forms. This state-of-the-art review presents the use of inhaled formulations for tuberculosis as a main focus, but also for other diseases such as bronchiectasis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia and respiratory infections occurring as complications during lung transplants. Opportunities for the use of inhaled therapies and other respiratory diseases or as prevention or antidotes against warfare agents are offered. Typical and novel inhaled formulations that have been used as well as preclinical and clinical studies and evaluation of these inhaled therapies are discussed for each disease state. Lastly, the use of inhaled therapies as an alternative to end the emergence of drug resistant strains is discussed along with the risks of increasing these resistant strains if the inhaled therapy is not designed based on dosing regimens established by well-planned pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies.