Mind the Gap

11 June 2025

Closing the Gaps in Drug Delivery Development

Developing drug delivery devices is rarely straightforward. While there are a variety of established platform devices on the market that can reduce development risk, cost and improve the time it takes to market, pairing a device with a new drug asset can result in unforeseen risks. This complex drug-device interface can be a grey area between the responsibilities of the pharmaceutical company and the device vendor. By the time issues are discovered, the development can be far along, where reactive mitigations start to lead down a path of excessive customization. These further compound risk and slow development. Taking a holistic approach to de-risking drug-device interface during platform selection – to fully understand the implications of a drug-device pairing, can save significant future time and resource.

In this case, a pharmaceutical company developing their first complex drug delivery device was facing uncertainty around the path ahead, having encountered unforeseen issues with a platform device and seemingly standard primary packaging. They engaged Springboard for a tailored training workshop to clarify their development path and assess other potentially unidentified risks.

Our deep understanding of both the underlying science of the drug, mass transport through tissues and the mechanical realities of device design positions us uniquely to identify risks others might overlook and to craft practical, science-led solutions.

Through this collaborative workshop, and drawing on their own expertise in formulation the client uncovered several previously unidentified risks specific to their device. With these insights, they were able to prioritize high-risk areas, develop targeted mitigation plans, and move forward with a clearer, more confident strategy.

The results were clear. With a more transparent and structured approach to risk management, the client accelerated their timeline, reduced overall project risk, and moved closer to delivering life-changing and user-friendly therapies to patients.

Find out Springboard can help. Contact us today.