Vapes for migraines and asthma? Companies want to speed up the turnaround time, but some have concerns
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A number of North American companies that see the potential of devices like vapes to relieve migraines and respiratory diseases like asthma have a long way to go to convince health authorities and patients that their products could be the future of inhaled medicine.
Two companies, Qnovia and MIIST Therapeutics, have developed vape-like devices based on technology used in existing medical nebulisers, which turn liquid medication into a fine mist.
Another company, Greentank, claims to have developed a method of vaping things with a heater chip that addresses the safety of current vapes and may provide a better way to treat diseases such as migraines.
Companies and experts say that inhaling can relieve pain in seconds, with fewer side effects than pills, but their ambitions to sell products like vapes to the medical field, amid growing concerns about their health effects, will be a difficult task.
For now, Qnovia and MIIST will launch their products as prescription-only nicotine replacement therapies (NRT), while Greentank is initially focusing on the use of its heating chip in cannabis and nicotine vapes.
Companies eventually aim to see their devices deliver more drugs and Douglas Dunlap, chief commercial officer at Greentank, cites migraine drugs as an example.
The most common way to treat migraines is using a pill, which takes about an hour to kick in and can include symptoms such as vomiting and dizziness.
“If we can shorten that, it would be a huge success for us,” said Dunlap, a former executive at vape giant JUUL, adding that vapes can deliver success within 60 seconds.
Three billion people worldwide suffer from migraines, according to the World Health Organization. Hundreds of millions more have conditions such as asthma or lung diseases, treated with inhaled medications.
Pharmaceutical company GSK alone has made nearly 7 billion pounds ($8.9 billion) in common respiratory drugs for conditions such as asthma and lung diseases by 2023.
Health concerns
Federico Buonocore, a professor specializing in pulmonary drug delivery at Kingston University in Britain, said that existing inhaled drug delivery devices are inefficient and difficult to use, so they are often misused.
A vape-like design could solve these challenges, he said.
Major tobacco companies have already tried and failed to enter this market, their efforts met with mistrust and opposition from health officials.
Philip Morris International last year set a goal of achieving more than $1 billion in annual revenue by 2025 for its health and healthcare division, which includes a business that makes asthma inhalers.
CEO Jacek Olczak said the company was “very optimistic about how the outside world will accept… Big Tobacco” in industries other than nicotine. An inhaled aspirin product made by the unit was also deemed unsuccessful after clinical trials last year.
Virginia-based Qnovia and California-based MIIST are pharmaceutical companies and are not affiliated with Big Tobacco, although some of their top executives are from that industry.
Qnovia CEO Brian Quigley, a former executive at tobacco giant Altria, told Reuters the company plans to submit drug applications to the US as soon as 2026 and the United Kingdom in 2026 for its NRT-like device, then launch a clinical trial in September.
MIIST also needs to secure regulatory approval. Its Phase 1 clinical trial found that its device can quell cravings faster than other approved NRTs like patches and gum — which are notoriously ineffective at helping smokers quit.
Toronto-based Greentank, founded in 2015 to make vaping hardware, will see the first US cannabis vape using its technology launched in September by American company Jaunty.
Greentank is now looking for a pharmaceutical partner to support the development of its heater chip for drug delivery.
MIIST co-founder Dalton Signor told Reuters he hopes the company’s device could one day be used to administer drugs for things like pain and anxiety.
However, he said the biggest challenge is making sure devices like MIIST aren’t mixed with regular vapes — a topic of growing health concern.
Authorities such as the World Health Organization say that vapes can produce harmful chemicals such as formaldehyde and heavy metals, and their long-term effects are uncertain.
Venture capital investor Catharine Dockery, CEO of Vice Ventures, said her company supports Qnovia because its nebuliser technology does not use heat, a process that can lead to dangerous production.
Greentank’s device uses heat – a fact that means other drugs may not work with it.
Dunlap said that Greentank is in the early stages of trying to identify drugs that are compatible with the technology, and tests show that its heating method does not trap dangerous winds.
But many may remain skeptical.
Kingston University’s Buonocore is conducting research on the use of electronic cigarettes as drug delivery devices.
“The first thing everyone told me was: ‘It’s not right to use this device as a medical device’,” he said, adding that concerns included that it would not be appropriate to give to children.
“Getting out of that stigma will be very difficult in this industry.”
($1 = 0.7867 pounds)
—Emma Rumney, Reuters
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