Aptar Pharma’s Prescription Division has introduced ‘Pro-Ject’, a novel high performance disposable auto-injector.

The company which is a global solution provider of innovative and proven aerosol, injection and spray delivery systems for prescription drugs unveiled the disposable auto-injector at the PDA Europe conference, held in Basel, Switzerland on November 5 and 6, 2013.

It is estimated that the global market for injectable drugs is worth US$ 240 billion, giving it a 28 per cent share of the overall drug market worldwide. The injectable drugs market experienced a four percent growth rate in 2012. The pharma industry has a very strong injectable R&D pipeline, with more than 3,500 projects for new drugs, the main portion of it being for generics, stated the company.

The majority of injectable drugs have been developed for use by healthcare professionals in hospitals and local medical care centres to deliver injections and infusions with syringes or infusion lines and needles. Auto-injectors are designed for self-injection in a non-medical environment, for example at home, without the presence of healthcare professionals being required.

Auto-injectors are spring-loaded devices holding a pre-filled syringe (the primary drug container). They are easy-to-use by design and intended for automatic self-administration of a fixed dose of medication by the patient.

The auto-injector market is a small niche of the injectable drug market, as these devices are used in the treatment of selected chronic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, spondilarthritis, multiple sclerosis, hepatitis C, anaemia, and emergency/crisis treatments such as anaphylactic shock and migraine attacks.

This niche device market was worth US$ 130 million in 2012 and has a strong annual growth rate of 20 per cent.

Pro-Ject is a novel auto-injector that has been designed and developed with input from patients and healthcare professionals in order to provide optimal patient convenience and compliance. The device integrates all the user-preferred features that were identified during user studies. Its design and development benefit from Aptar Pharma’s long experience of a Quality-by-Design approach which translates into robust design, successful manufacturing scale-up and flawless fast-track to market.

The state-of–the-art disposable auto-injector technology platform is designed around a standard glass pre-filled syringe. Two simple handling operations, a large and clearly visible control window and multiple safety and patient compliance features are among the device’s patient-friendly attributes.

It also has unique visual and acoustic feedback for needle insertion and end of injection that allows for strong product differentiation. The company stated that Pro-Ject is lightweight, providing real benefits for transport, storage, and environmental footprint. Its design allows easy adaptation to specific therapy needs, with the core technology providing design freedom to optimize the user interface.