PARI Issued US Patent for eFlow; Device Innovations Lead to Greater Efficiency in Drug Delivery

MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA, November 14, 2005 – PARI has been granted US Patent 6,962,151 relating to technological advances in the eFlow electronic nebulizer that result in significant improvements in aerosol medication delivery. This technology aerosolizes medication more efficiently, so patients experience dramatically shorter treatment times while receiving complete therapies. This has the potential to improve therapies for diseases such as asthma, cystic fibrosis, and COPD.

The new “mixing chamber” patent covers an aerosol chamber, inhalation and exhalation valves, a liquid storage container, and an aerosol generator based on a vibrating membrane technology. These components improve delivery of medication by two- to three-fold compared to other available nebulizers. Other nebulizers operating with a continuous output mode tend to waste up to half of the aerosolized medication when patients exhale during treatment. PARI’s eFlow suspends an aerosol cloud in a “mixing chamber” until the patient inhales in their normal, spontaneous manner, thereby reducing the amount of medication needed to deliver a therapeutically effective dose.

“While there are currently two other vibrating mesh nebulizers on the market (the Omron MicroAir and the Aeroneb Go), only eFlow has the aerosol chamber. PARI will retain exclusivity on this feature for 20 years from the priority issuance date of 1999,” summarizes Dr. Roland Stangl, responsible for Technology Development and device IP at the PARI Aerosol Research Institute, Germany.

“This patent is a significant milestone for the eFlow product platform because eFlow’s unique technology allows it to achieve a 65% - 75% delivered dose when other nebulizers may, at best, achieve a 30% - 40% delivered dose,” said Geoff A. Hunziker, Senior Vice-President for the PARI Pharma, USA. The delivered dose is the inhaled mass or amount of aerosolized drug that comes out of the nebulizer and is inhaled by the patient.

In May 2005, Dr. David Geller, a leading Pediatric Pulmonologist at Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando, Florida, published the findings mentioned by Mr. Hunziker and presented the study at the American Thoracic Society Meeting in San Diego.

“In addition to eFlow’s efficiency, it was also designed as a customizable platform for new drug formulations. This allows the drug to be optimized to the device and the device to be optimized to the drug on a variety of features, including droplet size, speed of delivery, volume of the medication reservoir, size and design of the aerosol chamber depending on the mode of administration, and the patient interface,” stated Dr. Martin Knoch, Managing Director of PARI GmbH. “With these advancements, we have the potential to significantly improve patient compliance and change the paradigm in how aerosol treatments are taken in the future. This is the improvement in quality of life that patients and physicians are always looking for.”

PARI has also been granted Patents 5152456, 5261601, and 5518179 with several others pending related to eFlow and its technologies. Over 80 studies have been presented or published on the eFlow and advanced aerosol delivery solutions.

About eFlow

eFlow, an electronic, portable nebulizer, enables extremely efficient aerosolization of liquid medications via a vibrating, perforated membrane. Compared to other nebulizer systems, eFlow can produce aerosols with a very high density of active drug, a precisely defined droplet size, and a high proportion of respirable droplets delivered in the shortest possible amount of time. Combined with its silent mode of operation, small size (it fits in the palm of your hand), light weight, and battery use, eFlow helps reduce the burden of taking daily inhaled treatments.

About PARI

PARI is a leading worldwide developer and manufacturer of fast and efficient aerosol delivery systems for patients with asthma, chronic lung disease, and cystic fibrosis. PARI's primary focus is to provide patients with innovative products and services that help control disease. PARI is headquartered in Starnberg, Germany with a major presence in the United States and offices in Japan, United Kingdom, and China.

Additional information on eFlow is available by contacting Kirsten Ayars at 805-679-7590 or Geoff Hunziker at 831-372-3580.

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