Diabetes is one of the fastest growing common illnesses of the 21st century. Many diabetes patients require lifelong treatment with insulin, which they have to administer themselves using insulin pumps, syringes or pens. For insulin and other multi-dose therapies, Ypsomed offers UnoPen™, a disposable pen with variable dose setting. Schreiner MediPharm has developed an NFC-Label for this injection aid. It serves as a communication interface between the injector and the SmartPilot™, an electronic pen add-on. This combination results in a smart device that interactively assists patients in self-administering their medicines and helps them adhere to their therapy plans.

Schreiner MediPharm designed the label with an integrated NFC chip precisely for the combination of the UnoPen™ and the new SmartPilot™. The NFC-Label can automatically identify, authenticate and check the expiration date of the drug. The date and time of the injection as well as the delivered dose are tracked and transmitted to the patient’s smartphone app via Bluetooth. Thus, patients are interactively guided through the injection process, assisted in correctly using the pen in real time or informed about inconsistencies—for instance, in the event of deviations from the therapy plan or an accidental attempt to inject themselves twice. A temperature monitoring function is integrated as well. It issues a warning in case the pen was exposed to critical temperatures while being used or stored. Sensor technology installed in the SmartPilot™ that digitally connects the UnoPen™ enables this function. The patient attaches the smart device to the pen without covering the cap, the dose scaling mechanism and the button that triggers the injection. The device remains on the pen throughout the injection process.

Schreiner MediPharm previously supported Ypsomed as a development partner for the SmartPilot™ application of the YpsoMate® autoinjector. “We selected Schreiner MediPharm again because we’re seeing the highest expertise in adapting sophisticated NFC labels to injection systems here,” says Andreas Schneider, Innovation & Business Development Director at Ypsomed. The narrow radius of the pen and the small tolerances of the attached device posed particular challenges. Another key objective was automated processing, because the label-integrated NFC chip has to reliably function from production through to use by the patient. Schreiner MediPharm utilizes a special design ensuring end-to-end functionality.