The administration of therapeutic drugs via injection is an indispensable delivery method for numerous drugs critical to patient health and well-being. Now this segment is evolving in response to changing patient populations, new classes of powerful therapeutic drugs and healthcare administration initiatives. Population demographics and efforts by managed care providers to control healthcare costs are driving the growth in drug self-administration, particularly for chronic conditions, introducing a new class of naïve users to parenteral drug delivery. User-friendly syringe and injection device designs and the availability of an increasing number of drugs in pre-filled insertable and disposable cartridges are propelling the growth of prefilled syringes for self-administration. The cost of biologicals such as recombinant proteins has created interest in prefilled syringes to reduce cost and waste associated with the handling of vial-packaged drugs. Important prefilled syringe applications include chronic diseases such as diabetes, several autoimmune disorders, and hormone replacement, as well as wellness programs and vaccine administration.

Publication Date: February 2008