3P’s client SteadyMed, a speciality pharmaceutical company, has developed a unique patch pump that delivers a small amount of drug continuously.

There are many drugs where it is essential that the drug is administered via injection, where a large dose would be dangerous, and where a patient needs to have a small amount of drug permanently within the blood stream. In these circumstances a permanent pump is required. Traditionally, these are cumbersome pieces of equipment that significantly reduce a patient’s quality of life. The answer is a compact device that can be worn. This is where SteadyMed’s innovative patch pump provides significant patient benefits over other solutions.

The technology is a convenient way to save the lives of patients with the heart condition Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH). 3P built the automation that manufactures the primary drug container which is core to this exciting new medical device technology and the equipment that manufactures the drug container from an injection moulding and web of film. A novel system to check for leaks in the container, using Helium and a mass spectrometer, was also developed. Finally, 3P engineered a unique technology to aseptically fill the container and vacuum stopper it (to protect the drug from oxygen). The wide variety of challenges overcome is testament to 3P’s engineers.