Klarus

Klarus is a novel approach to drug delivery—automating many of the tasks that patients often struggle with when using auto-injectors regularly. It stores drugs at the correct temperature, warms them up for injection, and prepares the injector with the right needle and medication cartridge. All the patient needs to do is pick up the reusable auto-injector from its base station when prompted to do so, inject themselves and then return the device to its cradle. After injection, Klarus will collect the needle and cartridge ready for safe disposal—alerting the patient when supplies are running low, and reordering if required. Klarus could be used for diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis or to administer vaccines. Klarus could also enable some cancer patients to be treated at home using drugs that are currently only allowed to be given in a hospital. It opens the door to the emerging world of companion diagnostics and truly personalised medication, where treatment is tailored to the individual patient using genetic information. The Klarus system has built in adherence. It could be offered to patients as a subscription-based service, and would pay for itself in the space of just one year if it replaced weekly treatment with a single-use auto-injector. As well as helping to improve patient outcomes, it would also be more environmentally friendly—saving on packaging and involving the disposal of only a small cartridge each time, rather than an entire auto-injector. Red Dot Award: Design Concept | Concept | Life Science