The InhalPlus project addresses a major challenge in the care of preterm infants: During non-invasive respiratory support, a large proportion of inhaled medication is lost within the ventilation circuit when using conventional aerosol delivery systems. As a result, therapeutically effective drug doses often fail to reach the lungs.

The project further develops and clinically validates a patented technology that overcomes this dilution effect through patient-proximal aerosol delivery based on a bypass architecture. This approach enables significantly higher and reproducible pulmonary drug deposition without altering established clinical workflows.

The first clinical application is the inhaled administration of budesonide for the treatment of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in preterm infants receiving respiratory support. The goal of the project is to enable, for the first time, an effective and preventive inhalation therapy for preterm infants. In the long term, the technology offers potential for additional inhalation therapies and further clinical indications, such as COPD in adults.