Drug delivery


Key considerations to optimise the patient experience when designing complex drug-device combination products


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Understand who’s going to use it. What are their practical, emotional and lifestyle needs?


What else are they using to manage their condition? How might this affect their experience with the product – for example, prior experience bias, reference bias.


What is the device competing against in the marketplace? What other products might it be compared with? Not just medical devices, this is particularly important when developing digital solutions that will be accessed on the same home screen as popular apps.


What are its timescales, and what are the key milestones it needs to meet? There needs to be enough time to set the right direction for the product, before closing doors that could lead to a suboptimal end solution.


How does the device fit into the broader care ecosystem and how can it use various touchpoints to positively affect behaviour? Packaging, labelling, IFU and digital assets can all be used to improve adherence and outcomes.


What will set the product apart from competitors? Not just that’s it’s smaller or easier to use, but what makes it a better option for end users? How does it help them manage their condition and reduce the need to change their behaviour?


How can any negative environmental impact of a product be reduced? It’s something that should all be asked of everyone and something that is now being taken more seriously by clients.


Source: Paul Greenhalgh, director of design, Team There’s a running theme in this work: collaboration.


“We are already seeing some interesting partnerships between the tech community, healthcare institutions, and the manufacturers of drugs and devices,” says Greenhalgh. “We are well on the way to a healthcare revolution.”


One factor making combination products especially challenging to develop is the increasing scrutiny on human factors (HF). “The work required to prove safe and effective use is very onerous and requires a very well-considered HF programme,” says Greenhalgh. “Combination products are often used by people in a home environment, without the support of a trained healthcare professional, so we need to understand behaviours, design for what people do intuitively and work hard if we want them to change their behaviour.”


Fortunately, there is rarely a need to work from scratch. “We’ve certainly seen an increase in pharma companies adopting a platform approach with a single technology used to delivery numerous therapies to different user groups,” says Greenhalgh. “When looking at design, you therefore need to think about how you might modify or customise a device without changing its core functionality.” However, this means that there is less flexibility than if you are working from a blank slate. “These platform devices are often based on proprietary technology,” says Greenhalgh. “We may be developing a device around a predefined inhaler ‘engine’ or primary drug container, so you have very little design freedom. We need to optimise the user experience and usability without making changes that would affect clinical performance – that can be quite tricky.”


A rocky future


The future growth of these products, particularly connected devices, is inevitable but there is a need for a lot of trial and error. “It’s going to take a while for the industry to grasp what a ‘useful’, and therefore successful, connected device is,” explains Greenhalgh. “There has been a rush to offer connected variants of devices, but few have made it to market yet. I think the rush will continue for some time but will slow as we consider which solutions are really effective and how we can gather valuable data.”


Societal trends will also shape the development of this field. “The ageing population is another inevitability, so challenges related to usability and user experience aren’t likely to get easier,” says Greenhalgh. “Technology may help to address these challenges, but we’ll still need thoughtful and intelligent designs, good human factors and robust engineering to ensure that devices meet the high demands placed upon them.” ●


Technology can be used to address the health device problems of meeting market needs as well as health needs.


14 Packaging Insight / www.worldpharmaceuticals.net


paulista/Shutterstock.com


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