The Woolcock Institute of Medical Research

The Woolcock’s researchers work across 11 specialised research groups, collaborating closely to help people sleep and breathe more easily. Some areas, such as sleep or clinical management, are widely understood. Others are less familiar to those outside research and industry. One of those is Respiratory Technology (fondly known as RespiTech), a multidisciplinary team focussed on how medicines are best delivered to patients through inhalation and nasal pathways.

Respiratory technology is the science, design and engineering of particles, devices and formulations to deliver therapies directly to the lungs and airways, and, increasingly, through the nasal cavity for systemic and central nervous system applications.

It sits at the intersection of pharmacology, biomedical science, engineering and clinical medicine, with the goal of ensuring the right drug reaches the right part of the respiratory system at the right dose and time.

Unlike many oral medicines, inhaled therapies must navigate complex biological and physical challenges. The amount of drug that reaches the lungs depends on factors such as device design, particle size, airflow patterns and individual lung anatomy. Even when the same medicine is used, changes in device or formulation can materially change how much drug is deposited in the lungs and how effective the treatment is. Computational modelling and experimental testing increasingly help predict where inhaled particles travel and deposit, including under realistic breathing conditions, supporting better drug and device design and improving treatment outcomes.

Device engineering also plays a major role. For example, research on dry powder inhalers shows that airflow patterns inside a device can significantly affect how much medication is lost in the throat versus delivered to the lungs. Small design changes can improve lung delivery efficiency and reduce waste, demonstrating how device engineering and formulation science work together to optimise therapy, and enhance consistency for real-world patient use.

RESPITECH AT THE WOOLCOCK

The Woolcock’s Respiratory Technology (RespiTech) group focuses on one central question: how can we make inhaled and nasal medicines work better for patients?

The team works across the full development pathway, from designing formulations and devices to testing how medicines behave in realistic airway models. By combining laboratory experiments, engineering approaches and clinical insight, RespiTech helps ensure that the right dose reaches the right place in the lungs or nose, every time.

A major strength of the group is its ability to bring multiple disciplines together working to solve a problem. Researchers in aerosol science, pharmaceutical formulation, biomedical engineering and respiratory biology work side by side to solve complex delivery problems that cannot be addressed by any single field alone.

RespiTech has expertise in advanced inhaler and nasal spray technologies, including next-generation devices, sustainable low-emission propellants, and emerging therapies such as biologics and RNA-based medicines. This work supports both respiratory treatments and new approaches for delivering medicines to the brain and the wider body through the nose.

By integrating device design, formulation science, and realistic testing models, the group helps academic and industry partners reduce development risk and accelerate translation from laboratory to clinic.

Ultimately, RespiTech’s work is driven by patient impact: improving treatment reliability, reducing side effects and making therapies easier to use in everyday life.

PARTNERING WITH INDUSTRY

Respiratory medicines are particularly sensitive to formulation and delivery method. Changing particle size, carrier materials, device airflow resistance or aerosol generation can dramatically alter drug deposition patterns and clinical effect and, ultimately, treatment reliability for patients.

For pharmaceutical partners, this means that device selection and formulation strategy are not secondary considerations — they are central to therapeutic success. RespiTech’s work focuses on optimising these variables early, reducing development risk and improving the likelihood of successful clinical outcomes. This means the group works closely with commercial partners to support device development, formulation optimisation and translational research from early concept through to clinical evaluation. Partnerships between their research (through spin-off Ab-Initio Pharma) and industry are at the heart of their translational work, reflecting a broader shift in medical research, where academic groups increasingly work alongside pharmaceutical and medical technology companies to accelerate innovation and bring new therapies to market more efficiently.

Respiratory technology ultimately exists to improve patient outcomes — but achieving that requires deep technical expertise, cross-disciplinary collaboration and strong industry partnerships that align scientific innovation with clinical and commercial needs.

By combining formulation science, analytical chemistry, biomedical research, engineering and clinical insight, the Woolcock’s Respiratory Technology group is helping shape the next generation of respiratory therapies — from concept, to device, to patient and into real-world clinical practice.

The Woolcock s hosting an Ab-Initio-Aptar seminar, Understanding Therapeutic Potential Through Pulmonary and Nasal Drug Delivery, on Friday 20 February. The event is an opportunity to catch up on the latest developments in drug delivery and network with pharmaceutical and industry partners while strengthening existing collaborations and exploring new partnership opportunities.

Find out more

• Our Respiratory Technology Research Group