Unilife Nabs Supplier Contract with Sanofi for Wearable Injectors

York, Pa.-based Unilife has inked a 15-year, worldwide agreement to supply Sanofi with cartridge-based wearable injectors for all of its large-dose volume drugs, excluding insulin. The deal also allows the French drugmaker to provide Unilife’s injectors to its partners for use with appropriate molecules under joint collaborations.

Unilife said Monday it expects to receive $50 million from customization programs relating to Sanofi molecules and indications, in addition to upfront payments, device sales and revenue generated by collaborations with Sanofi partners.

The agreement gives Sanofi nonexclusive access to Unilife’s wearable injector technology. The company can provide its wearable injectors to other drugmakers so long as Sanofi’s access is preserved.

Unilife’s disposable wearable injectors, which don’t require sterilization and can be prefilled and preassembled, are well suited for subcutaneous administration of large-dose volume drugs. To administer, a patient needs only to peel off the label, stick the injector onto the body and click a button to inject the drug, the company said.

Unilife said it will collaborate with Sanofi on other new technologies that address additional unmet or emerging needs for the delivery of large-dose volume biologics. — Kellen Owings

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