West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE: WST), a global leader in innovative solutions for injectable drug administration, has announced it will, for the first time, showcase new extensions of its marketed SmartDose® drug delivery platform, including several new wearable injectors that allow for up to 10 mL of volume to be injected in easy-to-use, wearable formats.
In addition, West will lead several educational sessions and presentations at the PDA Universe of Pre-filled Syringes and Injection Devices, taking place November 7-8, 2017 in Vienna, Austria, to address the pharmaceutical industry’s top concerns regarding the containment and delivery of injectable medicines.
“Advancements in drug development need to be paired with advances in drug delivery, such as last year’s FDA approval of the first combination product using our SmartDose drug delivery platform. Based on this technology, we are now excited to share our expanded portfolio of SmartDose wearable injectors,” said Eric Resnick, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at West. “As our customers continue to innovate and bring to market exciting new therapies to address important unmet medical needs, West is ready to help them with advancements in drug containment and delivery and technical expertise to guide them through the drug development and approval process.”
West’s SmartDose drug delivery platform allows patients to self-administer medication in accordance with their prescribed treatment. West developed this wearable device with extensive human factors testing and analysis to understand the interaction between the patient and the delivery system. All versions of the SmartDose platform adhere to the patient’s body, usually on the abdomen, so patients can be hands free during administration. The SmartDose platform offers a variety of integrated solutions for delivery and containment featuring a silicone-free Daikyo Crystal Zenith® cartridge and a FluroTec® coated piston containment system. West has built upon the success of the Generation I (Gen. I) device to address market needs for higher-dose volumes and enhanced functionality and usability and now offers for development:
• SmartDose Gen. II device, a system that can accommodate injection volumes of up to 10 mL, as well as both glass and Daikyo Crystal Zenith containers.
• SmartDose Gen. III device, a preloaded version, that reduces user steps and simplifies supply chain.
Both versions will be featured at the conference.
West will participate in the following educational sessions at the PDA Universe of Pre-filled Syringes and Injection Devices:
• Pre-conference workshops
o November 6, 3:00 p.m. – “Why Make Your Existing Auto-injector ‘Smart’: Comparison and Benefits of Different Accessory Form Factors and Integration into a Connected Health Platform,” Brian Lynch, Senior Director, Innovation at West
o November 6, 3:15 p.m. – “West’s SmartDose Platform: A Wearable Engineered with Both Patient & Pharma Partner in Mind,” Nico Brandes, Director, Market Development, I&T at West
o November 6, 3:30 p.m. – “Particulates in Sterile Drug Products: Testing and Contributions from Packaging Components,” Fran DeGrazio, Vice President of Scientific Affairs & Technical Services at West
• Scientific program sessions
o November 7, 2:25 p.m. – “Advances in Intradermal Drug Delivery: From Vaccines to Immunotherapy and Beyond,” Yotam Levin, Chief Executive Officer at NanoPassTM Technologies Ltd., a strategic partner of West
o November 7, 4:55 p.m. – “The Changing Diabetes Landscape: Linking Diagnostics with Injection,” Aileen Kinsella, Director of Segment Marketing at West
o November 8, 7:30 a.m. – “PDA Interest Group Meeting: Packaging Science,” moderated by Bettine Boltres, Manager, Technical Customer Services at West, and Derek Duncan, Vice President of Marketing at Lighthouse Instruments
o November 8, 9:00 a.m. – “Clinical Needs: Patient-Device Interface, moderated by Mike Schaefers, Vice President and General Manager, Global Pharma at West
• Post-conference workshops
Christa Jansen-Otten, Director, Global Product Management, Prefilled Systems & Delivery at West, will lead two sessions in the workshop, “Development and Manufacturing of Pre-filled Syringes: A Hands-on Training”:
o November 9, 9:05 a.m. – “Advantages of Pre-filled Syringe and Market Trends in Primary Packaging”
o November 10, 11:00 a.m. – “Elastomeric Closures for Pre-filled Syringes and Cartridges”
Tibor Hlobik, Sr. Director, Global Product Management, Prefilled Systems & Delivery at West, will lead a session on “Drug Delivery Systems: Global Technical, Regulatory and Quality Challenges”: November 9, 3:30 p.m.
Additionally, West will present three scientific posters, which will be available in the Exhibit Hall during the conference:
• “Determination of Piston Movement in Low Pressure/High Altitude Conditions in Daikyo Crystal Zenith Containers,” Rohit Vora, Engineer, Container Systems, R&D at West
• “PFS Plunger Evaluations in Different Auto-injection Modes,” Fran DeGrazio, Vice President of Scientific Affairs & Technical Services at West
• “Risk-Based Approach to Achieving ‘Zero-Defect’ Products for Personalized Medicine Applications,” John Dinka, Senior Director, Pharmaceutical Processing, R&D at West
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