Autoinjector designed by SHL Medical receives 2019 Medical Design Excellence Awards
Source: Medical Design Excellence Awards (MDEA)
SHL Group is pleased to announce that AstraZeneca’s BYDUREON BCise autoinjector, which is designed and manufactured by SHL Medical AG, has been selected as the Gold Winner in the Drug-Delivery and Combination Products category of the 21st Annual Medical Design Excellence Awards (MDEA) competition. Winners were announced at the 2019 MDEA Ceremony held on June 11 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York.
SHL is proud to have partnered with AstraZeneca to design, develop, and manufacture the cartridge-based BYDUREON BCise autoinjector. The injector is equipped with SHL’s proprietary Needle Isolation Technology (NIT®), a unique safety solution that enables cartridges to function like traditional prefilled, staked-needle syringes. Featuring a pre-installed needle that is permanently hidden throughout the injection process, this technology eliminates the need for patients to manually attach the needle before each injection. Production of the device is driven by SHL’s full set of in-house capabilities and fully automated assembly processes to meet the demands for high-volume production.
“SHL has always supported our pharmaceutical partners with innovative solutions that enable them to empower their patients. The MDEA nomination is an affirmation of SHL’s dedication to doing just that—empowering AstraZeneca’s patients with a simplified device for a more convenient injection experience,” said SHL Medical Chief Commercial Officer Josh Gonzalez.
Jochen Ratjen, director of industrial design said, “Building an easy-to-use autoinjector around a cartridge was a new challenge that involved an unprecedented level of attention to multiple factors surrounding the drug, the needle attachment, and the overall injection process. Therefore, the users were essential in determining the device’s activation mechanism and form factor. SHL worked closely with AstraZeneca throughout the entire development phase to ensure that the design made sense to drug’s nature as well as the end-user.”
The MDEA is the medtech industry’s premier design competition committed to recognizing significant achievements in medical product design and engineering that improve the quality of healthcare delivery and accessibility. The awards program celebrates the accomplishments of the medical device manufacturers, their suppliers, and the many people behind the scenes—engineers, scientists, designers, and clinicians—who are responsible for the cutting-edge products that are saving lives; improving patient healthcare; and transforming medtech—one innovation at a time.
