Catalent Pharma Solutions, Sommerset, NJ, operates a facility in Research Triangle Park, NC, that offers expertise and a full range of services for pulmonary and nasal drug delivery.

In 2008, the company was conducting development work on behalf of a client who sought help with a new chemical entity to be delivered via a dry powder inhaler (DPI). Part of development included characterizing the aerosols and the performance of the DPI. "We were working on inhalation drug delivery, and one issue with dry powder inhalers is filling the powder into the dose unit assembly," said Lei Mao, the senior scientist at Catalent who led the formulation development team working on the project.