Injection Devices
Our broad experience
Our design and development work in the field of parenteral drug delivery devices is significant. We have an exceptional track record in identifying, road-mapping and creating new opportunities for drug delivery platforms and supporting our clients to develop and industrialise these to achieve in-market success. Thousands of granted patents and applications are testament to our underlying creativity, which is core to this success.
With work spanning ultra high-volume disposable pens, reusable pens, connected devices, electro-mechanical systems, autoinjectors, spring-powered pens, fixed and variable dose delivery, infusion pumps, patch injectors, needle-based and needle free devices, we are proud of our achievements in this area.
As one of world’s leading injection device development teams, we bring deep and broad experience to every project we undertake in this field
Globally recognised design
Notable in our portfolio is SoloStar®, a leading disposable pen-injector for insulin.
We partnered Sanofi throughout the development of SoloStar®, applying our rigorous evidence-based approach to all aspects of the design. The result is a device that delivers leading performance in almost every respect. With superior levels of safety and comfort, the pen is sophisticated, yet simple to use.
Since its launch in 2007, SoloStar® has achieved global recognition and huge commercial success.
(SoloStar® is a registered brand of Sanofi Aventis).
User-centric design
How do you create a device for someone who has never injected before? The design of the device, as well as the accompanying packaging and instructions all have the potential to reduce or amplify this anxiety, so what can be done to make sure the important details are right?
This was the challenge we faced when developing a new injector for Lyxumia®, aimed primarily at injection-naïve patients. When creating a device like this, we analyse each task the user will perform in detail, from the first touchpoint with the carton onwards. By thinking about how to explain each step to a user, we find that opportunities to simplify things can be created. This approach led us to develop Lyxumia® with a simple pull-push operation, reducing complexity and the risk of errors arising.
For many patients, the prescription of an injectable product for the first time is a huge step, with the potential to create significant anxiety
A new digital reality
Connectivity is driving important developments in drug delivery, and nowhere more than for injection devices.
As the number of new drugs that are administered by injection increases, the ability to capture dose events, see user data in real time and detect day-to-day changes brings new opportunities. Connected injection devices target improved adherence and outcomes for different patient groups and especially those that may otherwise struggle with compliance.
Together with our clients, we are seeking to close the loop between diagnosis, monitoring and treatment, in order to make lives better every day.
Effortless injection
An innovative, user focussed, compact and fully featured 2-step autoinjector platform, Piccoject™ features press-on-skin activation and is compatible with 1mL and 2.25mL prefilled syringes.
In addition to the features expected of this type of device, Piccoject™ targets usability improvements over other autoinjectors. The large window that surrounds the syringe makes inspection and monitoring of injection progress straightforward and a novel ‘status indicator’ changes colour when the injection is complete, providing clear, binary feedback.
Where traditional autoinjectors often have more than twelve components in addition to the syringe, Piccoject™ contains just eight, simplifying manufacture and increasing platform versatility.
Piccoject™ is the winner of prestigious GOOD DESIGN® and RedDot design awards.
Wearable injectors
Wearable injectors offer great potential to deliver new drugs and to improve lifestyles and outcomes for patients.
BD Libertas™ is a pre-filled wearable injector for self-administration of large volume and high viscosity drugs that cannot be delivered with autoinjectors.
Developed with support from DCA, BD Libertas™ is intended to administer high-value biologic medicines in the comfort of an in-home environment. The device combines usability, safety and performance with high levels of manufacturing efficiency.
BD Libertas™ has won two of the world’s most prestigious design awards: the Good Design Award and the iF Award, affirming the quality of its design.
Powered pens
The ‘3D’ pen injector was developed to enable precise delivery of user selectable doses of medicine in single-unit increments, up to a class-leading maximum of 120U. Unlike traditional pen injectors, the ‘3D’ device contains a spring-powered mechanism, meaning that the button does not wind out of the housing when selecting a dose.
With this pen, very large doses can be delivered automatically at the touch of a button. There is no need to adjust hand grip during injection, allowing a high degree of control to be maintained over the device for comfort, convenience and confidence.
Where large doses are needed, automating key device functions can improve the injection experience
Our connected expertise
Augmenting an injection device with connected features takes significant multidisciplinary skills and expertise. Great care is needed to ensure that dose events are captured reliably and that product size, usability, cost, robustness and lifecycle are appropriately balanced. Navigating these issues and selecting the right communications technology are key to success.
We are experts at integrating electronics and software to make devices work effectively and efficiently within growing digital eco-systems.
We are the multidisciplinary design partner that can help deliver your connected injection device with confidence
Eco-design
A great example of eco-design is in practice is TouStar®, the world’s first reusable pen injector for concentrated insulin.
TouStar® is designed exclusively for Sanofi’s Toujeo® insulin cartridges, which contain more insulin than a regular cartridge, making them more convenient, longer lasting and better for the environment. Until now, concentrated insulin has only been sold in disposable pens, because of the risk of a mix up with regular insulin. To prevent users from attaching incompatible cartridges, we developed a new dedicated cartridge system, which also simplifies cartridge exchange.
A Green Good Design and Pharmapack eco-design award winner, this innovative product reduces environmental impact across all key measures by significantly more than 50% when compared with disposable pens.
Robust, reliable and inclusive reusable devices can offer major sustainability benefits over their usage life
Design for developing markets
We developed the AllStar® reusable pen injector to help diabetes patients in India. The device provides state-of-the-art features and class-leading performance with an extremely cost efficient design. AllStar® was selected as a finalist in the Medical Device Excellence Awards and won a Good Design award.
Since launch in 2013, we have developed a number of platform variants of AllStar®, allowing patients in markets around the world to benefit from this user friendly, compact and robust design.
Featured
Helping our clients achieve success through great product design
