Sanofi chooses partner for ‘peel, stick and click’ injectors

Unilife Corporation has been chosen to act as the sole supplier of cartridge-based wearable injectors for all of Sanofi's applicable large dose volume drugs (excluding insulins).

Disposable wearable injectors can be worn on the body of a patient during the subcutaneous administration of a large dose volume drug. Unilife's wearable injectors can be prefilled, pre-assembled and ready to use, with three steps for a patient to peel off the label, stick the product onto the body and click a button to commence the injection of a drug (known commercially as ‘peel, stick and click’).

They can be pre-configured to administer a measured dose volume over a designated period of time, typically ranging between one and thirty minutes.

The market for the technology is poised to experience rapid growth over the coming decade due to a convergence of market trends including accelerating pharmaceutical investment in biologics requiring large volume doses, and the shift of healthcare treatment from healthcare facilities to safe, simple and convenient self-injection by patients.

Alan Shortall, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Unilife said: “Unilife continues to advance our lead position in the fast-growing market for wearable injectors, a market which is expected to generate $8 billion in sales at an average $25 per unit by 2025. Based upon public information and industry forecasts, Unilife estimates that Sanofi has between 5 to 10 molecules that will be delivered in wearable injectors. With many pharmaceutical companies having up to a dozen large dose volume biologics that will each require an average of five million units per drug per year, our wearable injectors are poised to generate substantial revenue and growth moving forward. Additionally, we anticipate substantial incremental revenue will be generated from customisation programs conducted under joint collaborations with Sanofi partners that choose to participate," Mr. Shortall concluded.