Collaboration between Leo Pharma and Portal Instruments brings needleless drug delivery device to forefront of dermatology industry

The global partnership will help patients who use self-injectors to help alieviate cutaneous diseases and ailments like psoriasis.

A newly announced collaboration and license agreement between Leo Pharma A/S and Portal Instruments will soon help patients who self-inject biologics.

The companies announced a partnership this week to develop a needle-free drug delivery system to help relieve the pain associated with needles in self-injectors.

Portal’s reusable handheld injection device was originally developed by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) group led by Prof. Ian Hunter. It utilizes software technology to administer pre-filled, single-use cartridge without the use of needles. The injector uses a pressurized liquid jet to deliver the medicine and will be used in combination Leo Pharma’s portfolio of medications.

According to the press release, not only will the device be less painful for patients who self-inject, but it will also cut down on valuable time usually involved in self-injection.

“It is our ambition that this collaboration will lead to new and easier ways for people with skin diseases to administer our treatments on their own in the comfort of their home with a needle-free solution,” says Christian Antoni, senior vice president, global development at LEO Pharma.

Patrick Anquetil, CEO of Portal Instruments, says the collaboration will be an innovative opportunity to combine a “patient-preferred needle-free drug delivery system,” and new medicines to benefit the future of dermatology.