Is this the ‘Nespresso’ of auto-injectors?

A drug delivery technology from product design firm Cambridge Design Partnership (CDP) has been compared by its makers to the popular coffee pod machines.

Some rheumatoid arthritis patients need to store their drugs in the fridge, warm them up to the correct temperature for injection, prepare their auto-injector for use and disposing of the device safely.

But the new auto-injector device from CDP — dubbed Klarus ­— performs all of the preparatory tasks, meaning that patients only have to pick up the reusable auto-injector from its base station when prompted to do so, inject themselves and then return the device to its cradle.

“It’s the Nespresso of auto-injectors,” said Uri Baruch, head of drug delivery at CDP. “Klarus will store drugs at the correct temperature and warm them up when required – minimising the pain of injecting cold medication. It will then prepare the auto-injector with the correct needle and medication cartridge, and prompt the patient to take their drug.

“After injection, Klarus will collect the needle and cartridge ready for safe disposal – alerting the patient when supplies are running low, and reordering if required. CDP says that the base station technology could be adapted to cope with multiple users and different medications – either in the home or at a small clinic, for example. It uses fingerprint recognition technology to identify the correct user each time and a childproof lock to prevent accidental use.”

As well as rheumatoid arthritis, CDP says that Klarus could be used to treat diseases such as multiple sclerosis or to administer vaccines. The group also claims that it could enable some cancer patients to be treated at home using drugs that are currently only allowed to be given in hospital.

“All too often, patients with a chronic disease face the additional burden of struggling with a complex treatment regimen at home,” said Baruch. “Learning how to use a new drug delivery device and remembering multiple treatment steps can be challenging – particularly for the elderly or those with dexterity issues. That’s one of the reasons why adherence rates are often low – many patients just give up or fail to take their medication correctly.

“Our Klarus system alleviates that burden for the patient and helps ensure they get the full benefit from their treatment. It automates many of the use steps commonly missed or not carried out by patients – such as checking the use-by date or remembering to inject when following an irregular therapy schedule. We’ve used state-of-the-art technology and applied our user experience and human factors expertise – together with our knowledge of medical device regulation and our skills in electronics, mechanical engineering, software and connectivity – to create a radically new approach to drug delivery.”