West meets rising demand for electronic wearable injector

West Pharmaceutical Services has expanded production at its Scottsdale, Arizona, facility to meet rising customer demand for its SmartDose electronic wearable injector. 

“Expanding our manufacturing capabilities in Scottsdale — and scaling up production in Israel — will enable rapid, dual sourcing to our customers and help them bring innovative new treatments to market,” said Eric Resnick, president, Pharmaceutical Delivery Systems, Proprietary Products, at West.

As the treatment of many chronic illnesses shifts from the clinical setting to self-administration, there is a growing need for drug products that can be easily injected. Designed to deliver high volumes of injectable drugs over an extended period of time, SmartDose makes it easier for patients to self-administer medication and encourages compliance with prescribed treatments.

Patients have already self-administered thousands of doses using SmartDose in clinical settings. West has delivered more than 100,000 units of SmartDose and more than 800,000 validated Daikyo Crystal Zenith drug containers to pharmaceutical manufacturers for customer-funded development projects and clinical trials, including eight active programmes at various stages of pre-commercial development. 

The expanded capabilities at the Scottsdale site include cleanroom manufacturing and additional laboratory space. New jobs are being created in R&D, engineering, quality and operations functions to ramp-up production, new development and sustainment engineering.

The silicone-free Daikyo Crystal Zenith drug container that is used within SmartDose is commercially available in the ready-to-use format, and the combined offering provides system reliability and accountability from one partner.