Biocorp’s business development team is keeping the pedal to the metal. Days after disclosing news of its deal with Merck KGaA, the delivery systems player revealed a pact with BD to use connected technology to track adherence for self-administered injectable drugs.
The partnership is built on Biocorp’s Injay technology. France-based Biocorp developed the technology to enable companies to add connectivity to prefilled syringes. The device has a near-field communication (NFC) tag on the piston rod that contains information such as the type of drug, concentration, batch number and expiry date.
When the device detects a complete injection, it can send the time-stamped product information to a NFC reader to confirm the delivery of the treatment. Biocorp designed Injay to be adaptable to any size of prefilled syringe.
BD sees the technology as a good fit for its UltraSafe Plus passive needle guard, a device intended to enable single-handed self-administration of injectable medicines. The companies will work to integrate Injay into UltraSafe Plus. Matthew Schabacker, vice president and general manager of advanced drug delivery solutions at BD, explained the thinking behind the integration in a statement.
“Connected drug delivery devices play an important role in helping biopharmaceutical manufacturers understand and track key trends in patient adherence. Our agreement with Biocorp enables us to explore innovative solutions in this market and further supports BD’s commitment to smart, connected care, enabling care to transition to alternate settings and improving chronic disease outcomes,” he said.
The agreement adds BD to a roster of Biocorp partners that also includes Merck KGaA, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi. Biocorp has secured the deals using technology such as Mallya, a clip-on Bluetooth device for use with pen injectors.