​ASPR funding expands manufacturing capacity for prefilled injectors to administer vaccines, medicines

​April 21, 2022​

A recent ribbon cutting ceremony in Orlando, Florida, marked a milestone in the opening of a research and development facility, the ApiJect Technology Development Center, co-funded by ASPR, to produce prefilled injectors for vaccines and medicines. The initial design and construction of the facility took place over the past nine months. When fully built out, ApiJect will work with pharmaceutical companies at the facility to design, engineer and test how to fill and finish injectable pharmaceutical products in a single-dose prefilled injector made using the ApiJect platform and current Good Manufacturing Practices.

"Strengthening our nation's health supply chain and expanding domestic manufacturing capacity are key priorities for ASPR,” noted Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell. “We are pleased to support ApiJect's efforts to develop new and innovative approaches to how injectable vaccines and medicines are filled, finished, and delivered so that the nation is prepared for future pandemics and health emergencies."

ApiJect uses a high-speed, high-volume, blow-fill-seal manufacturing process to produce the prefilled injection devices. The facility provides space for device design, engineering, testing, blow-fill-seal mold development, and small-scale manufacturing of single-dose, prefilled injectors and related devices. The ApiJect Center also enables the fill-finish of smaller batch sizes for feasibility testing and device use testing, leading to commercial development. The new center complements the company’s fill-finish lines in South Carolina. ASPR invested $9.6 million in the development of the prefilled injector technology and facilities.