Inhalation therapy delivers therapeutic agents directly into the lungs of patients with
asthma, and is likely to remain the route of delivery of choice for the foreseeable future. The majority of patients with
asthma suffer from mild intermittent to mild persistent disease for which regular low dose inhaled
corticosteroids and on demand short-acting beta2-agonists have been recommended. These highly effective anti-
asthma medications are readily available, and so in the future improvement in
asthma therapy will most Likely derive from improvements in
inhaler technology.
Dry powder inhalers (DPIs) have many advantages compared to chlorofluorocarbon pressurised
metered dose inhalers. Most notably, with DPIs patients no longer need to co-ordinate activation of the
inhaler with inspiration. The Novolizer (VIATRIS, Germany) which is one of the latest developments in DPI technology offers a number of features required to increase the safety and efficacy of inhaled
therapy. It is the first DPI to include an inspiratory trigger threshold, which helps to prevent sub-optimal dose administration. Repeated activation without inhalation is mechanically inhibited by an overdose prevention mechanism. In conclusion, there is good evidence that technically refined DPIs are more likely to advance inhaled
anti-asthmatic therapy than newly developed inhaled drugs. This is important when
inhalation therapy is considered not only for
asthma but also for
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.