Injectable Drugs Benefiting from Advances in Evolving Device Designs

(Amherst, NH) – As life expectancy increases in developed economies, the healthcare industry is preparing for a number of new challenges as well as opportunities. A longer life span is expected to translate to a growing number of patients diagnosed with chronic conditions. To counteract the financial and medical infrastructure implications of this trend, pressure from the public sector and managed care organizations will place a premium on therapeutic self-administration, an expectation that is creating an increased interest in routes of administration that are patient-friendly and cost-effective. Pharma company decision makers have come to the realization that for many products, success no longer only depends on the medication itself but also on achieving a consumer-compatible form of packaging and application.

“For injectable drugs, the convergence of evolving device technology, high-performance materials, and innovative design concepts have led to the availability of syringes and injectors that offer an unprecedented level of human engineering, reliability, safety and patient-friendly features,” explains George Perros, Greystone Associates Managing Director. “These devices are providing drug developers with the options they require to satisfy therapeutic targets as well as company business objectives.”

Prefilled syringes are having a dramatic impact on the way injectable drugs are packaged for delivery. Within this segment, device design evolution continues to present drug developers with new choices. Initially dominated by glass, specialty coatings that allow plastic syringes to meet storage stability requirements have leveled the playing field. Device designs that incorporate reconstitution for lyophilized drugs – which represent a significant portion of the biologicals that have entered the market over the past five years – are also creating new opportunities.

For injectable drugs indicated for chronic diseases and conditions and that are targeted for self-administration – a category that includes immune modulators, hematopoietics, antivirals, growth hormone, and insulin – drug developers have taken device evolution to a higher level as they strive to create products that meet the unique needs of the patient or non-professional caregiver. The arrival of the disposable autoinjector, ideally suited for improving ease of use for drugs available in disposable syringes, is an example of an innovation that elegantly addresses an unmet market need.

For high cost-per-dose drugs – typically recombinant proteins - the investment in a customized prefilled disposable or cartridge-replaceable pen injector often makes good business sense for drug companies, providing the added benefit of visual product differentiation in the direct-to-consumer marketing era. While there is a certain amount of incremental risk associated with a pen injector strategy, these high-end devices support a level of advanced feature integration that is not currently possible with autoinjectors designed to be used with prefilled syringes.

These findings are contained in a comprehensive report, researched and prepared by Greystone Associates. Injectable Drug Delivery: Devices, Drugs, Diseases, Targets and Therapeutics contains product evaluations, market data and forecasts, company profiles, and detailed analysis of key technology, regulatory and business factors.

More information is available at www.greystoneassociates.org .

About Greystone

Greystone Associates is a medical technology consulting firm focused on the areas of medical market strategy, product commercialization, venture development, and market research. We assist medical and healthcare market participants in achieving their business objectives through the creation of detailed development strategies, product commercialization programs, and comprehensive market and technology research and analysis. Our market research publications are designed, researched and written to provide timely and insightful information and data on focused market segments, with the aim of providing market participants with the essential knowledge to refine and execute their marketing plans and financial targets.

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Source: Greystone Associates