Two Sri Lankan scientists win Silver award for innovative asthma drug manufacturing process

A Sri Lankan pharmaceutical company, Emergen Life Sciences, on Wednesday announced about winning a Silver Award by two Sri Lankan scientists of the Company at the 44th International Exhibition of Inventions held recently in Geneva.

The duo was awarded for their innovation of a process of manufacturing of Budenoside+Foremtrol, which is a dry powder inhalation medicines for asthma.

The two scientists – Manoj Hettiarachchi and NalinKannangara – whoare alumni of Sri Lankan universities, were also honoured with a Sri Lankan Presidential Award in February for this unique innovation.

The significance of this breakthrough is that unlike the imported medications, which are costly, the Patent Process innovated by the two scientists provides low-cost, easily accessible medications for asthma and its more aggressive form, which is also known as COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease).

Commenting on their achievement Hettiarachchi and Kannangara said that they were proud to head a team consisting of young Scientists from Sri Lankan Universities, in a state-of-the-art high tech manufacturing complex equipped with a versatile range of pharmaceutical testing and production equipment.

“We are proud that this is a truly Sri Lankan achievement,” they said at a media conference held on Wednesday.

“We identified a noticeable trend in the increase of asthma COPD and also understood that the country depended on costly imported medications for treatment.Our researchers were able to identify respiratory care medication as a fundamental area of research and were focused on improving the currently available pharmaceutical formulations,” Hettiarachchi, Chairman of Emergen Life Sciences, said.

Dr. Janaka Weeratunge, Managing Director of Emergen Life Sciences, said that asthma was classified as one of the biggest non-communicable diseases that cost the private sector and the state a considerable amount of money in importing treatment.

“Medications prescribed for such diseases are among some of the most expensive pharmaceutical preparations in the country. Concerning government purchases, we have seen a few international suppliers dominate the market ; as a result, a considerable amount of state funds are spent on the procurement of Asthma medication which costs the nation precious foreign exchange,” he said.

Hettiarachchi explained that the trends in the treatment of asthma and COPD also impacted the research as powder inhalation are more expensive than Metered Dose Inhalers (MDIs) or aerosols; the need for the public to be able to buy an effective medication at an affordable  cost was primary in their minds.

“In Dry Power Inhalation treatment known as DPI, the active ingredient is routed through the respiratory pathway to the site of action i.e. the lungs to exert the desired therapeutic effect. An inactive carrier molecule facilitates the passage of the active drug and an inhalation device aids the process. The inhalation device and the powder inhalation mix inside the capsule constitute the drug delivery system. The inhaler device and the capsule have to work hand in glove for optimum therapeutic benefit,” he said.

Kannangara, Chief Scientific Officer of Emergen Life Sciences, said the unique factor in their research was with regard to the preparation of a novel carrier particle of a suitable particle size in an inhalation powder mix intended for the pulmonary route of administration.

“As the first aspect, the innovation targeted a novel carrier, consisting of a crystalline substance in powder form within the particle size range of 50 -100 µm that have smooth surfaces. Researchers identified a grade of lactose mimicking the ideal surface properties for this purpose. In the second aspect, the invention focused on a method to mix the active drug with an aerodynamic diameter of 1-5 µm with the carrier particles,” he said.

Nimal Dias Jayasinhe, Chairman, Emerchemie NB Ceylon Ltd., the parent company of Emergen Life Sciences, said that having revolutionised the pulmonology market during the entire decade of the 90s, the company opened its own manufacturing facility in 2012.

“Within threeyears, we have achieved recognition both, locally and internationally, which no other manufacturer in Sri Lanka has been achieved over the last 60years.”

Jayasinhe said that the fully state-of the-art manufacturing facility at Kelaniya commenced commercial production in 2012 and has capability of manufacturing the entire spectrum of dry powder inhalation preparations that are prescribed in Sri Lanka.

Pix by Lasantha Kumara