Auto-injectors for administration of a medicament within a prefilled syringe

Inventors

Edwards, Eric S. • Edwards, Evan T. • Meyers, Paul F.

Assignees

kaleo Inc

Abstract

An apparatus includes a housing, a carrier, and an expandable assembly. The housing defines an opening configured to selectively place a gas chamber of the housing in fluid communication with an exterior volume. The carrier is movably disposed within the housing and is coupled to a medicament container. A proximal surface of the carrier defines a portion of a boundary of the gas chamber. The expandable assembly has a first member and a second member. The first member is coupled to an elastomeric member disposed within the medicament container, and the second member includes a valve portion. The expandable assembly transitions from a collapsed configuration to an expanded configuration when the elastomeric member moves within the medicament container. The valve portion moves relative to the opening when the expandable assembly transitions from the first to the second configuration, placing the gas chamber in fluid communication with the exterior volume.

Core Innovation

An apparatus includes a housing defining a gas chamber, where a side wall of the housing defines an opening configured to selectively place the gas chamber in fluid communication with an exterior volume. A carrier is movably disposed within the housing and is coupled to a medicament container, and a proximal surface of the carrier defines a portion of a boundary of the gas chamber.

An expandable assembly having a first member and a second member is included, where the first member is coupled to an elastomeric member disposed within the medicament container. The expandable assembly transitions from a collapsed configuration to an expanded configuration when the elastomeric member moves within the medicament container, and a valve portion of the second member moves relative to the opening so that the gas chamber is placed in fluid communication with the exterior volume.

A further apparatus includes an energy storage member disposed within the housing and configured to produce a pressurized gas within the gas chamber. The carrier moves within the housing from a first carrier position to a second carrier position in response to a force exerted by the pressurized gas on the proximal surface of the carrier, and includes a first seal member in sliding contact with an inner surface of the housing to fluidically isolate the gas chamber from the exterior volume.

Claims Coverage

The provided independent claims are clm-00001 and clm-00011, covering gas-chamber-based pistonless medical injector apparatus with a carrier coupled to a medicament container and pressurized gas use, together with an expandable assembly that transitions from collapsed to expanded while moving a valve portion relative to a housing opening to establish fluid communication with an exterior volume. Across the independent claims, the main inventive features are the coordinated gas-chamber/valve opening relationship, elastomer-driven expandable assembly, carrier movement, and specific sealing arrangements for isolating the gas chamber while enabling medicament delivery.

Across the independent claims, the apparatus combines a housing gas chamber and selectively vented/opening interface controlled by a valve portion that moves as an elastomer-coupled expandable assembly transitions from collapsed to expanded, together with a movable carrier defining a gas-chamber boundary. In the energy-storage embodiment, an energy storage member generates pressurized gas to move the carrier from a first to a second position, while sealing arrangements fluidically isolate the gas chamber during delivery using a sliding seal and a container-contact seal.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications