AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE: ATR) has signed a research collaboration agreement with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to develop a predictive platform for nose-to-brain (N2B) drug delivery, according to a press release from the company.

The collaboration is led by Alice Stanton, PhD, Assistant Professor and Investigator in the Center for Genomic Medicine at Massachusetts General Brigham and Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. The research will combine in vitro, in vivo and computational technologies to characterize the mechanisms, pathways and kinetics of nose-to-brain transport across a range of molecular classes and physicochemical properties.

The project aims to develop a New Approach Methodology (NAM), consistent with FDA support for such approaches, intended to help screen compounds suitable for N2B delivery during drug development. The resulting tool is designed to incorporate Aptar's nasal drug delivery systems to support candidate selection and formulation decisions for therapies targeting neurological conditions, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and depression.

"Through this study, we will profile the intranasal pathway to the brain and develop a tool to mimic this route, towards robust and non-invasive delivery of medicines that may otherwise be stopped by the blood-brain barrier," said Stanton.

Aptar's existing nasal delivery platforms involved in the collaboration include its Cerespray and Neurospray technologies, which the company says are designed to support deposition in regions associated with nose-to-brain transport.

"Our goal is to transform nose-to-brain delivery from a promising concept into a more predictable and data-driven development pathway," said Reenal Gandhi, Global Business Development Director at Aptar Pharma.

AptarGroup, headquartered in Crystal Lake, Illinois, employs approximately 14,000 people across 20 countries. The company noted that early-stage research findings may not predict outcomes in later-stage development or in humans, and that the NAM tool may not achieve its intended predictive capability or gain acceptance by pharmaceutical partners or regulators.