Project description
A new line of syringe stoppers for cleaner and safer injections
Prefillable syringes (PFSs) have been used increasingly in recent years, thanks to their ease of use, accurate dosage, improved safety, and reduced risk of contamination. However, PFSs need to be lubricated, usually with silicone. This may affect the pharmaceutical compounds that are in direct contact with the lubricant throughout the shelf life of the PFS, making them less effective and potentially unsafe for patients. To solve this problem, the EU-funded LUBRIGONE project has developed and aims to market a new line of PFS stoppers that eliminate the need for lubrication and/or coating of the stopper and container. The new stoppers protect medical dosages from pollution and users from potential harm, while granting optimal functionality.
Objective
With a global value of €4,663 million in 2017, Prefillable syringes (PFS) for administration of medical injections have seen an increased use in recent years, thanks to their advantages over the combined use of empty syringes and vials, such as their ease of use, accurate dosage (with less overfill), improved safety and reduced risk of contamination
However, PFS require lubrication (usually liquid or baked-on silicone) to ensure their functionality, and this lubrication (which is in direct contact with the medical dosage in the PFS throughout its entire shelf life) may affect the pharmaceutical compounds, reducing their efficacy and causing health and safety issues for patients.
To solve this problem, we developed LUBRIGONE, a new line of PFS stoppers combining a chemically inert Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPE) and unique sealing profile designs, which eliminates the need for lubrication and/or coating of the stopper and container. In this way, LUBRIGONE enables a completely clean injection system, protecting sensitive injectables from pollution, and protecting users against potential damage, while granting an optimal functionality (maintaining an acceptable break loose force and mean forces in PFS).
Our company, Injecto A/S was founded in 2014 with the goal to develop safe medical devices with primary focus on safe PFS syringes and their stoppers, to create safe and long-term stable drug injections. As a result, the LUBRIGONE project, will be a cornerstone for us, as it will enable us to exploit the market opportunity derived from its competitive advantages over current silicone-oil coated rubber stoppers, and the lack of feasible cost-effective alternatives, In this way, it will facilitate our growth and international expansion: our forecasts are to sell 21.4 million units in the first 4 years of commercialization, resulting in €10.7 million accumulated revenues by 2024, and increasing our staff by 250%
Fields of science
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringmanufacturing engineering
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringtribologylubrication
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencesinfectious diseasesRNA virusesHIV
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringcoating and films
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesenvironmental sciencespollution
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
2900 HELLERUP
Denmark
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.