f all goes well, asthma sufferers will soon have a new and improved way to combat their attacks. Developed by Anthony Hickey, professor of pharmacy, and Timm Crowder, who recently graduated with a doctorate in biomedical engineering from Carolina, the "smart" inhaler works by monitoring a patient’s breathing and adjusting the dispersion of a powdered drug based on a mathematical analysis of the powder’s behavior. This is opposed to commercially available inhalers, which deliver a drug according to the patient’s airflow alone.

Dispersing medicine in the form of a dry powder wastes less of the drug and maximizes its effect, Hickey explains. "Because of the efficiency of delivery, even of very small doses, it may also eventually aid in the delivery of drugs for heart disease, cancer, and diabetes," he says.

To get the invention into the hands of sufferers, Hickey, Crowder, and Paul Atkins, former director of respiratory systems at GlaxoSmithKline, along with the help of Carolina’s Office of Technology Development, have formed Oriel Therapeutics, Inc., which will develop and commercialize the new inhaler. Based in Research Triangle Park, Oriel has named Atkins its chief executive officer. Crowder will be the chief technology officer.

The Office of Technology Development (OTD) manages invention licensing and helps form start-up companies based on UNC-Chapel Hill inventions. For more information, contact OTD at 919/966-3929.