In healthcare today, biologic therapies are commonly administered through subcutaneous injections. Presently, more patients administer these therapies at home in an effort to reduce costs. As the prevalence of chronic conditions like diabetes and cancer increases, injection therapies are expected to grow even more. However, injection devices have been lacking in the past for a number of reasons.
Problems associated with home injection devices have existed for a long time. First, there were many complications that came with the use of the devices. Many injection therapy devices are also uncomfortable, which can result in poor patient compliance with medication treatments. Finally, injection therapy drugs come in a variety of formulations, which pose challenges for self-injection. Fortunately, Enable Injections Inc. may have found a solution to these issues.
Compassion as a Driver for Better Injection Devices
For Mike Hooven, CEO of Enable Injections Inc., his career journey set the stage for his current pursuits related to injection therapy. Throughout his career, he has worked in neurosurgical valves, pacemakers, and a variety of surgical devices. Mike Hooven is also a veteran entrepreneur with successes in two prior medical device companies. In fact, Atricare, a public company involved in surgically treating atrial fibrillation, is worth over $1 billion.
In 2010, Mike Hooven founded Enable Injections, Inc. to create painless child vaccination injection devices. The endeavor was not a success. However, Mike Hooven’s vision on the need and potential for such injection devices in the future continued. Using years of research related to human factors involving self-injection, he and his team created an innovative injection device. By focusing on the patient first, Enable Injections Inc. is attracting a great deal of attention from Big Pharma.
enFuse and the Enable System – How the Injection Device Works
Patient input was part of the approach in developing the injection therapy of Enable Injection Inc. Mike Hooven also talked with a number of commercial pharmaceutical companies about a potential design. Their response was to create an injection device that does not require pharmaceutical companies to change their product formulations. Combining this recommendation with patient needs is what drove the development of Enable’s self-injection mechanism.
The actual injection device is a wearable unit about the size of half of a yo-yo and can be placed anywhere. A self-adhesive pad keeps the enFuse injection device in place, and it can contain up to 50ml of drug. Once on the skin, a patient simply presses a small button to receive the injection therapy.
As a result, the self-injection delivers the drug quickly with minimal discomfort while giving patients the control. The patient then discards the enFuse injection device and uses another one for the next injection therapy.
The enFuse injection device comes in a few different sizes based on the volume of drug used in the injection therapy. In addition, Enable Injections Inc. offers three different Enable Systems to fill the enFuse injection device. One accommodates drugs that need mixing while the others are for drugs that come in vials or syringes. As a result, Enable Injections Inc. has created an injection therapy system that pleases all stakeholders.
What’s Ahead for Enable Injection Inc. and the Use of Its Self Injection Device
Enable Injection Inc. is currently still considered a startup company in the self-injection device industry. In fact, it recently just completed its Series B venture capital funding at $50 million. But the company is growing quickly and getting a great deal of attention along the way.
Currently, Enable Injection Inc. has over 70 employees and this figure will likely expand significantly in the coming years.
Also, Enable Injection Inc. has several clinical trials in which it is participating. Likewise, the self-injection device company has several contracts with commercial pharmaceutical firms for future promotions. It includes a contract with CSL Behring, the top producer of immunoglobulin therapies, which are notably on the rise. Given this, Enable Injection Inc. anticipates regulatory approval of its self-injection device and system by 2021 at the latest.
