CDMO ten23 health is supporting customers to develop an on-body-injector platform, which it says could lower overall treatment costs.

Ten23, a contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) focused on developing and commercializing injectable biopharmaceuticals met BioProcess Insider at CPHI, Frankfurt to discuss its on-body-injector activity.

“Instead of holding and keeping in position a syringe for the time of injection, on-body-injectors are stuck to the body,” explained Michael Petersen, ten23’s chief commercial officer.

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“A button is pressed, and a small motor is moving a thin needle into the skin followed by the injection, often over an extended period like 10-30 minutes.”

Petersen added that an on-body-injector does not act as “an alternative to a simple flu shot, but in some cases [could be] a replacement for infusions given in a hospital setting.”

While the CDMO could not disclose specific customers it is supporting, the firm said that as the on-body-injector platforms contains a small container with active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) inside, pharmaceutical development is required.

Ten23’s role includes “investigating the interaction of the container with all its components and the active ingredient and the injector itself; to ensure a safe and reliable therapy for the patient.”

Additionally, the firm is providing this pharmaceutical development as a service, which also includes sterile filling of the containers to enable production of the “loaded” injectors that are used for clinical studies as well as market supplies.

Changing the space

According to ten23, self-treatment options like the on-body-injector, could reduce treatment costs overall.

“The higher cost of the device versus a classical syringe will be compensated by lower costs for the hospital, doctor or nurse administering a classical syringe or infusion. In addition, the resulting subcutaneous injection is considered safer than a classical infusion. In principle, it can be compared with insulin pens, which have become the standard of care and replaced insulin ampoules and syringes against diabetes.”

The CDMO did, however, note that the number of applications of the on-body-injector is still under development and therefore limited. Furthermore, “the technology is not expected to replace syringes completely, because the presence of a nurse or doctor is often required during the administration for medical reasons.”

According to the firm, the development and production of products like this is also “more demanding than standard syringes of vials,” which is why various companies use CDMOs.