AstraZeneca and Team Consulting win PDA Partnership Innovation Award

Reusable autoinjectors have the potential to reduce both the cost and environmental impact of drug delivery, especially when considering chronic conditions which require frequent dosing. A goal of this project was to design a more sustainable reusable autoinjector that can contribute to AstraZeneca’s ambitious sustainability goals.

Duncan Paterson, Senior Director, Device Development, AstraZeneca

Lowering the costs of goods has the potential to broaden the accessibility of highly-intuitive, user-friendly devices by making them available to a wider range of patients and markets. This new platform highlights AstraZeneca’s commitment to innovation and patient-centricity, demonstrating how we can pioneer new technologies through strong internal and external collaborations.

Andrew Chapman, Senior Director, AstraZeneca

Creating a low-cost, sustainable and highly usable solution

Current state-of-the-art, single-use autoinjectors require users to perform only two simple steps to administer a dose. In contrast, reusable systems often introduce additional and potentially more complex steps associated with loading the single-use drug container prior to use, then removing it after use. Reusable autoinjectors also tend to include complex electromechanical drive systems, electronics and/or connectivity to help achieve acceptable levels of usability, but these features come with significant cost and environmental impacts.

The AstraZeneca Reusable Autoinjector offers a more cost-effective and sustainable solution for the autoinjector market. As a fully mechanical product, it negates the need for high cost and high carbon footprint components such as batteries, PCBs, motors and other complex electronic components, as well as additional systems such as charging stations. This also substantially decreases the financial implications of on-boarding and equipping new patients, as well as early termination of treatment or loss/damage to the reusable portion of the device.

Compared to single-use autoinjectors, a reusable component inevitably adds use steps to load, unload and reset the device for each dose. Through rapid iterative cycles of user testing and design improvements, we have ensured these additional steps are intuitive and straightforward for users. The innovative all-mechanical reusable design delivers the usability and safety of an autoinjector whilst also achieving the cost and sustainability goals required by AstraZeneca.

Michael Herd, Senior Engineering Consultant, Team Consulting

A winning partnership

This innovative product came about because of a project between AstraZeneca and Team Consulting. Throughout the development, this collaboration evolved through a series of small, focused work packages, each with clear, targeted goals. This approach not only ensured technical and cultural alignment, but also fostered a strong, trusting relationship between the two teams.

The rapid development of the innovative device would not have been possible without the full team of people behind it, with special thanks to the core team:

• Andrew Chapman, Senior Director, AstraZeneca
• Duncan Paterson, Senior Director, Device Development, AstraZeneca
• Tom Etheridge, Senior Industrial Design Consultant, Team Consulting
• Michael Herd, Senior Engineering Consultant, Team Consulting
• Kathryn Thompson, Consultant Mechanical Engineer, Team Consulting

Find out more about AstraZeneca’s sustainability goals and approach to driving positive change.