Screening of highly relevant compounds in the inhaled route

Real-time monitoring and pharmacokinetics of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in the inhaled route with Super SESI

Secondary electrospray ionization walks the extra mile, it goes where no one else can go. Tools like Super SESI allow us to safely detect large molecules in the gas phase, with an extremely low LoD.

Inhalation is the preferred administration method for certain drugs, for instance, those with a low therapeutic index (i.e. less safe). But developing inhalable formulations of drugs can be a tricky task. You need to embed the molecule in a 'perfect' aerosol which can be absorbed evenly by the lung.

One of these drugs is chloroquine. It has therapeutic value in several diseases, the most important one being malaria, but it's also effective against many parasitic infections, autoimmune syndromes, and bacterial or viral infections including SARS-Cov coronavirus. It was also useful as an emergency solution in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic before the vaccine came up.

In order to develop an effective aerosol you need to test it in a very precise way, and with a low limit of detection (LoD) for volatile species. For hydroxychloroquine, with a molecular mass of 336 Da, this becomes a real challenge.

That's where Super SESI comes in.

Thanks to Super SESI and high-resolution mass spectrometry by Thermo Fisher Scientific we were able to test inhaled chloroquine intake in the most accurate way available in 2021.

Chloroquine aerosoling is just one of the many applications of this promising device. Drug research, real-time breath_analysis, volatilomics, microbiology... This is just the beginning!

The Exhalion standardizes the air flow for even greater accuracy. Learn more:

This study was possible thanks to Philippe Guy, Tanja Živković Semren, Maria Fatarova, Julia Hoeng, Nikolai Ivanov, et al. from Philip Morris International.