Janet Tully

Microfabricated Engineered Particle Systems for Respiratory Drug Delivery and Other Pharmaceutical Applications

Particle Replication in Non-Wetting Templates (PRINT®) is a platform particle drug delivery technology that coopts the precision and nanoscale spatial resolution inherently afforded by lithographic techniques derived from the microelectronics industry to produce precisely engineered particles. We describe the utility of PRINT technology as a strategy for formulation and delivery of small molecule and biologic therapeutics, highlighting previous studies where particle size, shape, and chemistry have been used to enhance systemic particle distribution properties. In addition, we introduce the application of PRINT technology towards respiratory drug delivery, a particular interest due to the pharmaceutical need for increased control over dry powder characteristics to improve drug delivery and therapeutic indices. To this end, we have produced dry powder particles with micro- and nanoscale geometric features and composed of small molecule and protein therapeutics. Aerosols generated from these particles show attractive properties for efficient pulmonary delivery and differential respiratory deposition characteristics based on particle geometry. This work highlights the advantages of adopting proven microfabrication techniques in achieving unprecedented control over particle geometric design for drug delivery.

Visualising the operating behaviour of SMEs in sector and cluster: Evidence from the West Midlands

Cluster policy in the UK, pursued by the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), has readily adopted a simplistic definition based upon industrial sectors and location quotients. Evidence drawn from a study of the operating behaviour of SMEs belonging to two traditional manufacturing industries within the West Midlands—automotive components and clothing—provides a critique of this approach. Whilst the automotive components industry has been designated part of a key, high priority cluster, the clothing industry has not. Using case studies from both industries, this paper shows firms both within and outside RDA cluster definitions display a remarkably similar range of behavioural characteristics. Yet, based on weakly defined cluster policy, one industry enjoys considerably more policy support than the other. The paper begins to question the logic of RDA cluster policy and to ask whether a more sophisticated and locally sympathetic manner of visualising clusters and business behaviour rather than an emphasis on employment numbers would have a greater impact for policy.