Unilife Develops Proprietary Portfolio of Wearable Subcutaneous Infusion Devices

Unilife Corporation recently announced the development of its AutoInfusor portfolio of subcutaneous infusion systems for the patient self-administration of drugs in 3-, 5-, 7-, and 10-mL volumes.

Unilife has developed its AutoInfusor technology to address the unmet needs of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with drugs that have complex formulations with higher viscosities and requiring large dose volumes. AutoInfusors are now available for supply to pharmaceutical companies for human clinical trials in either prefilled or fill-at-time-of-use formats.

AutoInfusors are compact, single-use drug delivery systems designed for simple, intuitive, and convenient use by patients outside healthcare facilities. Consisting of a primary drug container, fluid delivery path, and drive mechanism, AutoInfusors are modular and can be customized to address the specific requirement of the drug and its target patient. They can be pre-set for infusion periods that can span minutes or hours in duration, as specified by the pharmaceutical customer.

Once the patient attaches the device onto the injection site and pushes the activation button, the automatic infusion of the drug into the subcutaneous tissue commences. With the size, shape, and functionality of the AutoInfusor being ergonomically designed for optimal wearability, the patient can continue to go about their normal daily routines during the period of dose delivery. A series of audible, tactile, and visual indicators can signal to the patient when the full dose has been delivered, at which time the AutoInfusor can be removed from the body for convenient disposal.

“Our AutoInfusors represent the world’s first and only subcutaneous infusion system ready for human clinical trials that can facilitate the patient self-administration of drugs between 3- and 10-mL dose volumes,” said Mr. Alan Shortall, CEO of Unilife. “Pharmaceutical companies are actively developing a significant number of pipeline drugs targeted for the treatment of acute, chronic, and palliative diseases. Many of these emerging macro-molecule drugs, including a number of biologics, feature a complex formulation of proteins with higher viscosities that require large volume doses. The conventional patch pumps that have been developed for the delivery of drugs, such as insulin, are largely unsuitable for delivery of these drugs. Until now, pharmaceutical companies developing these complex drugs have lacked access to a single-use subcutaneous infusion system that can enable patients to easily self-administer doses greater than 3 mL in volume.”