Patient-centered design strategies

Scientists devote careers to developing new medicines that better manage or cure disease. However, clinical breakthroughs occur only when individual human factors are managed. This is where innovative, patient-centered designs for medical devices and packaging can improve patient outcomes.

Berry Global - Healthcare Division, a company with more than 50 years of design expertise in inhalation, recently launched its digital RS01X single-dose, capsule-based dry powder inhaler (DPI) with connected features, a system that shows the value of considering patient input early in product design.

With a leading share of the worldwide DPI market, Berry Global - Healthcare Division offers one of the largest selections of inhalation devices, including single and multidose DPIs, pressurized metered dose inhaler (pMDI) actuators with dose counters, all offered in standard ranges and as custom solutions.

The medical device maker’s results are a combination of its packaging design expertise, manufacturing know-how, and history of trusted partnerships in the healthcare industry, all important in refining and enhancing the patient experience in terms of administration effectiveness. The company brings a better healthcare experience to patients with innovative patient-centered packaging solutions that meet precise requirements of each drug, each patient, and local regulations.

This has become particularly critical in recent years as drugs have become more sophisticated and tailored, notably with increasing focus on treat-to-target and personalized medicine.

“When drugs are accurately targeted, it is vital that they are administered properly,” explains Marco Franza, global inhalation sales director - Berry Global Healthcare Division. “This means that for the patient, ease of use and comfort with their inhaler are paramount. For our customers, it means their medicine is reliably dispensed at every dose. Poor inhaler adherence and technique result in poor patient outcomes and higher costs, and these have become major challenges for the respiratory health industry.”

This was the driving force to launch RS01X, which incorporates built-in sensors and digital capabilities to track inhaler use and connects to an app which provides personalized guidance to improve adherence and inhaler techniques.

Berry partnered with Amiko Digital Health to integrate the RS01X into Amiko’s Respiro digital medicine platform for connected inhalers, combining data, artificial intelligence (AI), and sleek design to upgrade respiratory care.

The RS01X automatically captures, stores, and encrypts real- time inhaler data, including user-generated inhalations through the device. Its built-in battery requires no charging of the inhaler throughout its lifespan. It connects wirelessly to the Respiro app, and the app reminds patients when it is time for a dose, providing personalized insights and tips powered by data and AI to help patients self-manage their treatment more effectively. Patients can instantly and securely choose to share their data with healthcare providers in person and digitally to improve collaborative decision-making and enable data-driven treatment adjustments.

In previous clinical studies, the Respiro platform improved medication adherence up to 37% and optimal inhaler technique up to 42%.

“The integration of sensing and connectivity into our RS01X inhaler will help to improve patient experiences as we bring together the power of digital technology and data science with the premier platform for inhalation technology,” comments Laci Hasenour Scourfield, vice president of global marketing at Berry Global.

A key part of the development of the RS01X was to ensure the connected inhaler retained the user-friendly features of the original RS01, making it suitable for all age groups combining ease of use and consistent dosage delivery.

RS01X can be customized to meet respiratory focused pharmaceutical companies’ needs from multiple inhaler models and designs to integrative digital experiences that offer important benefits for patients, their families, and healthcare teams.

Another retained benefit of the original RS01 is the ability to function with a variety of powders and capsules, as well as being available with different airflows to better handle various drugs. A recent enhancement, for example, introduced a solution to improve powder dispersion through an additional aerosol engine in the mouthpiece. Berry Global is producing its respiratory devices in an ISO7 cleanroom environment.

Berry’s continuing focus on the latest trends and demands that are influencing innovation in the respiratory drug delivery market will be critical.

“Undoubtedly COVID-19 activated new models for patient care in diagnosis, episodic care, and ongoing disease management worldwide. At the epicenter of this transformation are digital communication platforms, data sharing, and increased reliability in patient self-care,” Scourfield says. “As patient and provider experiences adapt and more tailored therapies come to market, our customers increasingly seek reliable and user-friendly self-administration solutions that support precision medicine.”

There are further important benefits to this approach. The imprecise dosing of medicines can have a serious economic impact to health systems as primary diagnosis and comorbidities are undertreated. Minimizing dosing imprecision will also deliver sustainability benefits through reduced drug wastage.

“The inhalation sector remains dynamic and fast-moving,” concludes Jean-Marc Galvez, president of Berry Global Consumer Packaging – International Division. “Our commitment is to match this pace of innovation that patients rely on with innovative inhalation devices that better the patient experience in their treatment journey.”

Berry Global Healthcare
https://www.berryglobal.com/markets/healthcare

For more information from Berry Global Healthcare, contact Muriel Combeau, Global Sales, Business Development and Strategic Marketing Director of Healthcare. She can be reached at murielcombeau@berryglobal.com.