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As major pharmaceutical companies continue to dedicate more efforts to acquiring or developing new biologics, pharmaceutical companies will need to look at ways to improve education and adherence of auto injectors for patients.

By Steven R. Kaufman on Dec 4, 2012

As major pharmaceutical companies continue to dedicate more efforts to acquiring or developing new biologics, corresponding growth for advanced drug delivery devices such as auto injectors can clearly be seen in projections from established biopharmaceutical research agencies. However, this also means that device manufacturers will play an even more vital role in designing the most suitable devices to help patients take these injectable treatments.

Not only do the considerations of safety, convenience, and ease of use need to be integrated into the device design to begin with, the pharmaceutical company and device manufacturer will need to work together to anticipate potential usage scenarios and prepare supporting documents such as clear instructions for use (IFUs), handling videos, and appropriate labeling. Since injection devices like auto injectors are usually targeted for self-administration, where the patient received the device with drug inside through a distribution channel and takes the injections by themselves without the direct supervision of a healthcare professional, it becomes even more challenging for the biopharmaceutical company to effectively connect with the patient to ensure the proper usage of the device.

To help the patients become more familiar with the use of the combination product and to feel more comfortable psychologically, some device manufacturers have started to provide training devices, which replicate the look and feel of the actual auto injectors, but without any drug or needle inside.

Furthermore, these trainers will closely mimic the functionality of the actual devices. By adding this tool to the biopharmaceutical company’s suite of supporting tools, the patient can now practice without the fear of making an improper injection, as even just one unsuccessful attempt is all it takes for a patient to develop concerns about future injections and potentially even towards the treatment itself. It’s also safe to assume that more than one patient may encounter such challenges and if unaddressed can lead to unnecessary patient complaints and may affect the overall acceptance of the auto injector as the means by which to take their injections.  As biopharmaceutical companies invest significant resources in developing a combination product in partnership with device companies, it is vital that patients understand how to use these devices by themselves and are confident in doing so.

While the process in developing and manufacturing an auto injector for a high value biologic is important, ensuring that patients can properly and effectively self-administer their injectable medications in a safe manner remains the primary goal. As it continues to be a challenge to anticipate all potential user scenarios or patient handling preferences when using devices like auto injectors, one solution is for the biopharmaceutical company to provide a range of training tools alongside the actual product that can connect with and guide patients to properly administer their injections. In fact, an auto injector training device may even be considered to be a compliance tool that should be discussed at an early stage between the biopharmaceutical and device companies when bringing a combination product to market.

Auto injector trainers are also used in frontline training programs provided by biopharmaceutical companies to help educate physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals.  Then, once experienced themselves, they can ensure that their patients also get to practice first with a training device, as they walk them through the handling steps.  By giving auto injector trainers to patients or by giving them the opportunity to use these trainers before they begin using actual auto injectors, we are clearly helping to reduce future complaints and improve patient compliance.