Advanced Drug Delivery

The Advanced Drug Delivery Research Group's research is aimed at increasing our understanding of the physiochemical properties of active and excipient materials used in a variety of different dosage forms, and using that knowledge to improve product design in terms of in vitro and subsequently in vivo performance.

Research within the group is of a highly collaborative nature, utilising the expertise of group members in formulation science, cell culture models, molecular biology and physical chemistry.

The research interests of the group span a number of different areas:

1. The use of material characterisation data to predict potential biopharmaceutical gain, in terms of bioavailability and or/physical stability, and ultimately to determine the “developability” of new chemical entities (NCEs). The impact of physical form on processing and processing on physical form is a particular area of interest.
2. The design of micro- and nanoparticulates and also lipid-based drug delivery systems with potential for improving stability, delivery and bioavailability, particularly for poorly soluble drug candidates and protein based therapeutics.
3. The development of experimental and computer models (employing high performance computing and intelligent software systems) to assess and predict both the in vitro (linked to performance) and in vivo performance of pharmaceutical formulations with the objective of developing in vitro-in vivo correlation.
4. Studies of transport processes using several in vitro models of intestinal and respiratory epithelium which have been developed and characterised in the group in previous years. In this regard, the isolation and primary culture of human pneumocytes has been pioneered by our lab yielding a unique model for studies as described above.
5. The group has a particular interest in pulmonary drug delivery and conducts research into novel technologies and formulations aimed at improving inhalation delivery systems and delivery efficiency to the pulmonary region.

Head of Research Group

• Dr. Anne Marie Healy

Members of the Research Group

• Prof. Owen I. Corrigan
• Dr. Deirdre D'Arcy
• Dr. Carsten Ehrhardt
• Dr. Mariusz Kamionka
• Dr. Lidia Tajber

TCD Collaborators

• Dr. Ed Lavelle (Department of Biochemistry and Immunology)
• Prof. Lawrence Crane (School of Mathematics)

National and International Collaborators

• Prof. Brian Glennon (School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, University College Dublin)
• Prof. Pat McArdle (School of Chemistry, National University of Ireland Galway)
• Prof. Kieran Hodnett (Material and Surface Science Institute, University of Limerick)
• Prof. Ake Rasmuson (Department of Chemical and Environmental Science, University of Limerick)
• Dr. Abina Crean (School of Pharmacy, University College Cork)
• Dr. Humphrey Moynihan (Department of Chemistry, University College Cork)
• Professor David Brayden (School of Agriculture, Food Science & Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin)
• Dr. Brendan Redmond (School of Mathematics, Dublin Institute of Technology)
• Prof. Robert Davies (Nottingham Nanotechnology and Nanoscience Centre, School of Pharmacy, Nottingham, UK)
• Prof. Udo Bakowsky (Philipps University Marburg, Germany)
• Prof. Kwang-Jin Kim (University of Southern California, Los Angeles, US)
• Merrion Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (www.merrionpharma.com)

Current Research Projects & Funding

Solid State Pharmaceuticals Cluster (SSPC) – SFI Strategic Research Cluster ( €6,971,997 total funding shared with partners ). December 2007 - December 2012. Co-PI Dr. Anne Marie Healy; Collaborators Dr. Lidia Tajber, Prof. Owen Corrigan.

Irish Drug Delivery Research Network (IDDRN) – SFI Strategic Research Cluster ( €5,278,749 total funding shared with partners) . December 2007 - December 2012. Co-PI Dr. Carsten Ehrhardt; Collaborators Prof. Owen Corrigan, Dr. Anne Marie Healy, Dr. Lidia Tajber.

Development of innovative and commercially viable microemulsion, penetration enhancer based delivery systems and formulation of high potential new medicines using this technology – Enterprise Ireland Innovation Partnerships project grant (with Merrion Pharmaceuticals Ltd.) (€161,973). February 2007 – February 2009. PI Dr. Anne Marie Healy; Collaborator Prof. Owen I. Corrigan.

Particle engineering of nanoporous microparticles – a platform technology for drug delivery, Enterprise Ireland Technology Development project (€399,740). August 2006 – December 2009. PI Dr. Anne Marie Healy; Collaborator Prof. Owen I. Corrigan.

Use of high performance computing to predict dissolution relevant to in vivo drug absorption. (IRCSET funded project.) October 2007- September 2010. PI Dr. D. D'Arcy Co-PI Prof. Owen Corrigan.

Solid-state and micromeritic characterisation of spray dried microparticles. IRCSET funded Embark Initiative project. October 2007 – September 2010. Ph.D. student Krzysztof Paluch, Supervisor Dr. Anne Marie Healy.

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Selected Publications & Patents

C Ehrhardt, KJ Kim (eds.) Drug Absorption Studies - In Situ , In Vitro and In Silico Models. Series: Biotechnology: Pharmaceutical Aspects VII, Springer, New York, 2008.

AM Healy, BF McDonald, L Tajber, OI Corrigan. Characterisation of excipient-free nanoporous microparticles (NPMPs) of bendroflumethiazide. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics 69:1182 – 1186, 2008.

JL Sporty, L Horálková, C Ehrhardt. In vitro cell culture models for the assessment of pulmonary drug disposition. Expert Opin Drug Metab Toxicol 4 (4):333-345, 2008.

U Becker, C Ehrhardt, M Schneider, Leon Muys, Dorothea Groß, Klaus Eschmann, UF Schaefer, CM Lehr. Comparative evaluation of corneal epithelial cell cultures for assessing ocular permeability. Altern Lab Anim , 36 (1):33-44, 2008.

AM Healy, BF McDonald, OI Corrigan, L Tajber. A method for producing porous particles. PCT Application No. PCT/IE2007/000006 (2007).

A Steimer, H Franke, Eleonore Haltner-Ukomado, M Laue, C Ehrhardt, CM Lehr. Monolayers of porcine alveolar epithelial cells in primary culture as an in vitro model for drug absorption studies. Eur J Pharm Biopharm 66 (3):372-382, 2007.

DO Corrigan, OI Corrigan, AM Healy. Physicochemical and in vitro deposition properties of salbutamol sulphate/ipratropium bromide and salbutamol sulphate/excipient spray dried mixtures for use in dry powder inhalers. International Journal of Pharmaceutics 322 (1-2):22 – 30, 2006.

DM D'Arcy, OI Corrigan, AM Healy. Evaluation of hydrodynamics in the basket dissolution apparatus using computational fluid dynamics—Dissolution rate implications. European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 27 (2-3):259 – 267, 2006.

DO Corrigan, AM Healy, OI Corrigan. Preparation and release of salbutamol from chitosan and chitosan co-spray dried compacts and multiparticulates. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics 62 (3):295 – 305, 2006.

M Bur, H Huwer, CM Lehr, N Hagen, M Guldbrandt, KJ Kim, C Ehrhardt. Assessment of protein transport rates across primary human alveolar epithelial cell monolayers. Eur J Pharm Sci 28 (3):196-203, 2006.

C Ehrhardt, EM Collnot, C Baldes, M Laue, KJ Kim, CM Lehr. Towards an in vitro model of cystic fibrosis small airway epithelium: Characterisation of the human bronchial epithelial cell line CFBE41o-. Cell Tissue Res 323 (3):405-415, 2006.

C Kneuer, C Ehrhardt, H Bakowsky, MNV Ravi Kumar, V Oberle, CM Lehr, D Hoekstra, U Bakowsky. The influence of physicochemical parameters on the efficacy of non-viral DNA transfection complexes: A comparative study . J Nanosci Nanotechnol 6 (9-10): 2776–2782, 2006.

DM D'Arcy, OI Corrigan, AM Healy. Hydrodynamic simulation (computational fluid dynamics) of asymmetrically positioned tablets in the paddle dissolution apparatus: impact on dissolution rate and variability. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology 57 : 1243-1250, 2005.

L Tajber, AM Healy, OI Corrigan. Physicochemical evaluation of PVP-thiazide diuretic interactions induced by processing –analysis of glass transition composition relationships. European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 24 (5):553 – 563, 2005 .

B Forbes, C Ehrhardt. Human respiratory epithelial cell culture for drug delivery application. Eur J Pharm Biopharm 60 (2):193-205, 2005.

C Ehrhardt, KJ Kim, CM Lehr. Isolation and culture of human alveolar epithelial cells. Methods Mol Med 107 :207-216, 2005.

C Ehrhardt, C Kneuer, C Bies, KJ Kim, CM Lehr, U Bakowsky. Salbutamol is actively absorbed across human respiratory epithelial cell layers. Pulm Pharmacol Ther 18 (3):165-170, 2005.

DO Corrigan, OI Corrigan, AM Healy. Predicting the physical state of spray dried composites: salbutamol sulphate/lactose and salbutamol sulphate/polyethylene glycol co-spray dried systems. International Journal of Pharmaceutics 273 (1-2):171-182, 2004.

DO Corrigan, AM Healy, OI Corrigan. The effect of spray drying solutions of bendroflumethiazide / polyethylene glycol on the physicochemical properties of the resultant materials. International Journal of Pharmaceutics 262 (1-2):125-137, 2003.

J Fiegel, C Ehrhardt, UF Schaefer, CM Lehr, J Hanes. Microparticle impingement on lung epithelial cell monolayers: Toward improved particle characterization in the lung. Pharm Res 20 (5):788-796, 2003

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