Learn more about the HMST Laboratory:
platforms.monash.edu/hmstlab/ and the
HMSTrust and grant: hmstrust.org.au/casestudies/monash-institute-pharmaceuticalsciences-mips
From left to right: HMSTrust Lab Senior Administrative Officer
Nicole McMillan with Victorian Minister for Health Jill Hennessy,
Monash President and Vice Chancellor Professor Margaret
Gardner AO and Associate Professor Michelle McIntosh.
DEVELOPING A SIMPLE SOLUTION
TO A GLOBAL HEALTH PROBLEM
Each year, nearly 300,000 women globally
die from pregnancy-related causes, with
postpartum haemorrhage (PPH – excessive
bleeding after childbirth) the leading contributor
to these deaths. Although PPH can be
effectively prevented or treated with an injection
of oxytocin, access to the drug is limited as it
requires refrigerated storage to maintain efficacy
and trained medical personnel to administer.
The Inhaled Oxytocin Project seeks to develop
a novel aerosol delivery system for oxytocin that
can be administered with a simple, low-cost,
disposable device immediately after childbirth.
This will increase access to this life-saving
medication in resource-poor settings – where
a large number of women give birth outside
medical facilities or in understaffed and underresourced clinics.
The project has now reached the exciting clinical
trial phase. The capabilities of the new HMSTrust
Laboratory will support this translational
research being undertaken at MIPS.
The Inhaled Oxytocin Project was recently
included in the Innovation Countdown 2030
report, Reimagining Global Health: 30 highimpact innovations to save lives. See page 6
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