West Pharmaceutical Services, a global leader in innovative solutions for injectable drug administration and delivery, has announced that it will participate at the 2016 PDA Universe of Pre-filled Syringes & Injection Devices, taking place October 17-18 in Huntington Beach, California.

West will share advances in drug containment, self-administration systems, and patient adherence, and will co-present with Amgen  as well as Noble.

"As the number of biologic medicines continues to rise, West is working with our customers to provide the highest quality drug containment solutions, as well as innovative drug delivery technologies that can meet the needs of patients and healthcare providers in this evolving marketplace," said Eric Resnick, VP & Chief Technology Officer at West.

"At this year's meeting, we look forward to presenting alongside our customers and collaboration partners to share how these successful relationships have resulted in drug containment and delivery advancements for patients."

This year, West announced details of two collaborations with global biotechnology leader Amgen Inc. In February of 2016, West announced that Amgen had selected West's Daikyo Crystal Zenith® vials—in conjunction with West's FluroTec® stoppers—to contain Amgen's FDA-approved therapy IMLYGIC™ (talimogene laherparepvec).

In July of 2016, Amgen announced the U.S. approval of its Repatha® (evolocumab) Pushtronex system (on-body infusor with prefilled cartridge) based on West's SmartDose® drug delivery technology. Leaders from West and Amgen will present a case study around their collaboration associated with the Repatha program, as well as a co-presentation on the benefits and challenges of approval of a polymer container system compared with traditional glass containers.

West will also announce the availability of a multisensory-based educational and training program for West's SmartDose technology platform. This new training system is the result of a collaboration with Noble®, a leader in patient-centric onboarding and training. This new training system signifies a continuation of West's strategy to enhance the overall patient experience, and will complement West's existing relationships with Insight Product Development and Healthprize Technologies.

Insight provides user-centric research and design inputs, and Healthprize provides a Software-as-a-Service platform to help improve patient adherence through motivation and education. West and Noble will co-present the results of this end-to-end patient training solution, and the collaboration between West and each of the three other companies will be featured at the respective booths of each company.

West will showcase several innovative drug delivery system and packaging component technologies at booth #504, including:

1-3mL NovaPure® plungers – High-quality components for higher-volume pre-filled delivery systems, designed using Quality by Design (QbD) principles to reduce particulate and ensure consistency of delivery.

SmartDose® technology platform – An integrated drug delivery system that adheres to the patient's body, usually on the abdomen, so patients can be hands free while self-administering medication in accordance with their prescribed treatment.

Daikyo Crystal Zenith® – A cyclic olefin polymer containment and delivery system designed as a high-performance alternative to glass. It is an integrated lifecycle solution that is designed to maintain drug safety, purity and efficacy from development through to commercialization.

Westar® cartridge plungers – Ready-to-Use and Ready-to-Sterilize cartridge components manufactured for consistency and quality to reduce the risk of variability and its potential effects on drug safety and efficacy.