Wearable Injectable Drug Delivery Devices

Unilife Corp. officials announced an agreement with MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, to customize and supply devices from its platform of wearable injectors for use with molecules in MedImmune’s pipeline. 

Under this agreement, Unilife will supply MedImmune with customized devices from its platform of ReadyToGo wearable injectors. Several drug candidates from MedImmune’s portfolio may be selected for use with Unilife’s wearable injectors under the agreement. 

Alan Shortall, chief executive of Unilife says, “This is the dawn of a new era for injectable drug delivery where a very sophisticated new class of wearable, disposable devices will allow patients to deliver the most advanced therapies with maximum comfort and convenience. I am delighted that Unilife is setting the standard in serving biotech customers, such as MedImmune, and their patients within this category.

“We are pleased that MedImmune selected Unilife’s technology after conducting a thorough evaluation process to identify simple and convenient injectable therapies for patients that can be self-administered wherever they are,” Shortall concludes.

Unilife will generate revenue starting in Q1 FY14 on the basis of customization and supply of its products to MedImmune. Additional terms of the contract have not been disclosed.

The wearable injection category is expected to generate device sales in excess of $3 billion within five to seven years.

About the ReadyToGo Wearable Injectors
The Unilife portfolio of ReadyToGo wearable injectors is a game-changing platform that addresses the unmet needs of biotech customers in delivering high-dose volume therapies wherever the patients are. The ReadyToGo wearable injectors are supplied to the patient prefilled with the drug and ready-for-injection with no extra steps or parts required. Only three simple steps are required to self-inject the dose: peel, stick, click, with an on-body safety interlock, a Flexwear comfort catheter and an electronic user interface among an array of features that maximize patient comfort and awareness during all stages of use. The devices are designed to minimize disruption to a patient’s normal daily lifestyle during the period of dose delivery. 

The ReadyToGo wearable injectors are designed for integration with standard filling processes, utilize standard materials in the primary drug container and require no terminal sterilization. A fully programmable delivery regimen allows the bolus, basal or variable rate of dose delivery to be customized to specific customer, therapy and patient requirements. The electronics in the device can be easily detached and disposed for markets that require special electronics disposal procedures.

A video of Unilife’s platform of wearable injectors can be viewed on the Unilife website at http://bit.ly/19MYWTA.

Source: Unilife Corp.