Unilife starts initial production of Unifill syringe
Expects to start fulfilling orders by the end of June
Unilife Corporation, a US manufacturer of drug delivery devices, has started initial production of its Unifill syringe, a prefilled syringe with safety features integrated within the glass barrel, at its 165,000ft2 manufacturing facility in York, Pennsylvania, US.
The company says this will enable it to accelerate discussions with more than 20 pharmaceutical companies over the potential use of the syringe with approved and pipeline injectable drugs and vaccines across more than a dozen therapeutic classes.
Once Unilife completes final product validation for the Unifill syringe during the second quarter of 2011, it will then be able to fulfil initial sales orders to its existing pharmaceutical partner, French drugmaker sanofi-aventis.
The supply and sale of the Unifill syringe to other pharmaceutical companies is expected to begin shortly afterwards.
Unilife expects initial production batches to be used by pharmaceutical companies and contract manufacturing organisations for drug stability studies, market evaluations, and validating the integration of the product into fill-finish systems currently in operation.
Alan Shortall, ceo of Unilife, said: ‘We look forward to being in a position to begin fulfilling initial sales orders for the Unifill syringe towards the end of June, and consolidating relationships with a number of interested pharmaceutical companies during the rest of the year. We are now entering an exciting new chapter in Unilife's emergence as a global leader for innovative drug delivery devices.’
