Nasal delivery rationale
Scientific rationale for intranasal delivery using AmorphOX®
Orexo’s development programs spans various delivery routes. Intranasal delivery offers significant advantages, and spray-dried amorphous powders with tightly controlled particle-size distribution support high nasal deposition while minimizing lung exposure.
The powder-based AmorphOX® platform dissolves quickly at the nasal mucosa, allowing APIs to pass directly into the bloodstream through nasal blood vessels, bypassing first-pass metabolism, delivering faster therapeutic effects and higher bioavailability than oral administration.
This route can be lifesaving in emergency situations, particularly in community environments where healthcare professionals may not be able to establish intravenous access. It is also non-invasive and well-suited for self-administration, addressing barriers such as needle phobia, especially among children.
Nasal drug delivery may also allow for direct transport of a drug from the nasal cavity to the brain, so called nose-to-brain delivery. This may bypass the blood-brain-barrier (BBB), allowing rapid CNS exposure and improve delivery of molecules that otherwise penetrate the BBB poorly.
Nasal administration
● Nose-to-brain delivery
Enables CNS exposure of drugs with limited permeation over the blood-brain-barrier.
● Rapid and extensive systemic drug delivery
Superficial blood vessels in the nasal cavity allow for rapid and extensive systemic drug absorption.
● No first-pass metabolism
Enables absorption of sensitive drugs prone to biodegradation, such as peptides and proteins.
