Melbourne drug could help prevent thousands from dying in childbirth

AN inhalable love drug from Melbourne that could prevent 300,000 women from dying during childbirth will be fast-tracked after it got a $16.6 million dollar boost.

Oxytocin is routinely given to women to prevent excessive bleeding after birth, but it is not available in many developing countries because it must be refrigerated and given by trained health professionals.
The Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Monash University has developed a dry inhalable version of the drug, which will be fast-tracked into development and clinical trials.
The technology has been licensed to pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, and will also receive funding from the McCall MacBain Foundation and Grand Challenges Canada.
The idea is to ensure the drug is heat stable, so it does not have to be stored in the fridge. Delivering it via a puffer would make it more accessible to more women giving birth in low-resource areas or outside medical facilities.
It’s estimated a woman dies from post-partum haemorrhaging every three minutes.