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They did. Windgap[1] took venture capital, took state funding from Massachusetts back in 2012, and didn't ship the product. Cool web site, though. Sanofi tried, but their product misfired at least 26 times and was recalled.[2] Teva tried, and their product was rejected by the FDA because of problems; they're going to try again with a new model in 2017.[3]

[1] http://www.windgapmedical.com/ [2] https://www.auvi-q.com/ [3] http://www.fiercepharma.com/sales-and-marketing/fda-swats-do...



Adrenaclick is still on the market. It's a different mechanism, but still an auto-injector.

http://www.adrenaclick.com/how_to_use_adrenaclick_epinephrin...

Some people apparently decide to buy vials of epinephrine and manually fill a syringe.

http://www.consumerreports.org/drugs/can-you-get-a-cheaper-e...


Three companies tried and failed?

It sounds like it's harder than we might think to make this work.

Given that, and the low volumes, it might not be that profitable even at $600 per sale.


The companies that tried to enter the business were drug companies, not device companies. No expertise in volume manufacturing of medical-grade injection-molded plastic devices. There are companies which can do that.[1] There are automatic inspection technologies which can detect even minor flaws.[2] But the typical injection molding vendor isn't that good.

Consider the typical failure rate of ball-point pens. That's consumer-grade injection molding.

[1] http://www.advancedmt.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/amt_med... [2] http://www.vision-systems.com/articles/print/volume-9/issue-...


Both Teva and Sanofi have other drugs using auto-injectors in the market.


But that R&D was spent years ago.


I meant for a new entrant.


Weird! It doesn't seem like a particularly complicated device. Is anything publicly known about what was going wrong?




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