A breath of fresh air

The expertise of leading technology design, development and consulting firm Cambridge Consultants has helped Catalent make the final decision on a $20 million investment in inhalation drug development and supply facilities. Catalent – a world leader in drug development and delivery solutions – is making the investment at its Inhalation Center of Excellence in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. It will include the expansion of its pressurized metered dose inhaler clinical and commercial supply capabilities.

Cambridge Consultants was asked by Catalent to validate and challenge its business plans for becoming a contract manufacturer of inhalation products. Using its technology management consulting expertise – coupled with external views and data – Cambridge Consultants provided a perspective on the current market and future trends in inhalation.

Dean McKinney, vice-president of business development at Catalent, said: “Cambridge Consultants gave us an independent external perspective along with invaluable market intelligence – and produced clear and concise recommendations that have resulted in our investment. Pulmonary represents the second largest drug delivery market by delivery route. Catalent’s investment in commercial manufacturing at our Inhalation Center of Excellence not only fits with our advanced drug delivery growth strategy but also positions us as a world leader supporting inhaled products.”

The research by Cambridge Consultants concluded that the inhalation drug delivery market offers an attractive opportunity for Catalent. The market is driven by the prevalence of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – with moderate growth expected. The market for inhalation products (drug plus device) is estimated at $28.6 billion, with the device only component of the market accounting for 5% of revenues ($1.4 billion).

AJ Van Bochoven, business manager at Cambridge Consultants, said: “It was exciting to work with a client that is investing heavily in inhalation. Catalent recognised our world-class knowledge and expertise in inhalation as being a good source to validate their own market and technology know-how. We used our knowledge of inhalation technology development to give them a high-quality market analysis and enabled them to benefit from our business modelling expertise.”