Thet is one of those pieces of medical kit that has barely changed in over a hundred years, and that’s becoming a problem. Glasgow-based Nebu-Flow has secured a £2 million grant from Scottish Enterprise to change that, building on the £4.7 million it has already raised since spinning out of the University of Glasgow, in a global drug delivery market the company describes as worth billions.
The company has built a hand-held nebuliser that uses precise acoustic frequencies to control how drug particles are formed, rather than relying on the older mechanical methods that most inhaled medicines still depend on.
This is significant because a growing number of new treatments, including biologics and RNA therapies such as mRNA, are too fragile to survive being pushed through a conventional nebuliser. Nebu-Flow’s device is designed to deliver them gently enough that they arrive in the lungs intact.
A Problem That Affects Millions
Nebulisers are used to deliver medicine to people with conditions including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cystic fibrosis.
In Scotland alone, around 720,000 people are currently treated for asthma and roughly 241,000 live with COPD, and managing respiratory conditions costs NHS Scotland in the region of £500 million a year. According to Public Health Scotland, the number of people living with COPD is projected to rise from 134,257 in 2019 to 218,962 by 2044, an increase of around 63%.
That growth, combined with a wave of new biologic and RNA-based treatments that existing devices simply can’t handle, is exactly where Nebu-Flow is aiming. The company says early studies show its device can successfully deliver a much wider range of medicines than conventional nebulisers, including some of the hardest to nebulise.
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From Prototype To Product
The Scottish Enterprise funding will take Nebu-Flow from a working prototype to a fully engineered product, covering final design work, performance testing and the regulatory approvals needed to bring the device to market in the UK, Europe and the United States.
Andrea Cusack, Chief Executive Officer of Nebu-Flow, said the grant marks a significant moment for the team. “This support from Scottish Enterprise is a huge moment for our team,” she said. “It allows us to turn years of Scottish research and engineering into a real product that could make a genuine difference to patients’ lives. Our goal is simple: to help people get better, more effective medicines in a way that’s easier, safer and more comfortable for them.”
Nicola Anderson, Director of Scaling Innovation at Scottish Enterprise, pointed to the company’s journey from its earliest support through to this latest award. “Scottish Enterprise has nurtured Nebu-Flow’s ambition to revolutionise respiratory drug delivery over a number of years, from inclusion in our Unlocking Ambition entrepreneurship programme, feasibility grant support, investment in their vision and now with this significant R&D grant award,” she said. “The human health sector is a key opportunity area for growth in Scotland. Companies like Nebu-Flow play a vital role in transforming our economy by scaling up, creating high-value jobs and competing internationally. With this progress, there’s real hope that their work will deliver significant benefits for respiratory patients worldwide.”
Built On Scottish Research, Aimed At A Global Market
Nebu-Flow was spun out of the University of Glasgow, bringing together engineers, scientists and clinicians with deep expertise in respiratory medicine, and has already picked up industry recognition, including the CPHI Pharma Start-Up Initiative Award in 2024. The company plans to keep growing its team in Scotland while pursuing partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotech companies internationally.
Nebu-Flow’s path from university spinout to this stage of funding reflects a broader pattern in Scottish health technology, where research coming out of universities increasingly ends up as regulated medical products with international ambitions.
The benefit for patients is clear: better access to advanced medicines, and potentially more treatment and monitoring at home rather than in hospital. Turning a working prototype into an approved product is still a journey, but with this kind of grant funding now behind it, Nebu-Flow has a clearer runway to get there.
