Eco-Inject raises £5.2m to scale reinvented autoinjector
The finance will enable Eco-Inject to scale its reinvented autoinjector and move into commercial-scale manufacturing with partners, meeting GMP regulatory standards.
Its solution is felt to help the pharmaceutical industry solve a growing dilemma. Once used primarily in emergency settings and for a limited range of advanced medicines, autoinjectors are now central to the delivery of an expanding class of patient-administered injectable therapies.
Demand for patient-administered injectable drug delivery is increasing enormously, driven by the rise of injectable treatments and the rapid uptake of GLP-1 drugs.
Today, more than 500 million autoinjectors are used annually, with the market expected to reach 2 billion units by 2030. Yet market-leading autoinjectors remain complex and costly disposable devices, typically comprising 9-11 plastic components and struggling to scale in line with rising demand.
The majority of autoinjectors are incinerated as medical waste leading to a rapidly growing carbon footprint associated with the use of these devices.
Eco-Inject’s patented autoinjector platform has been designed to tackle these challenges with a simplified, bio-based design that uses fewer components, significantly reducing carbon emissions without adding cost. The device has been redesigned from first principles without compromising the strict regulatory, technical and sustainability hurdles in the industry.
“Sustainability isn’t our mission. It’s our method,” said John Palmer-Felgate, Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Eco-Inject. “We didn’t set out to just make a ‘green’ product but to remove complexity and to select materials that complemented our design from the start.
“When we removed the complexity, the carbon emissions came out with it. This over-subscribed investment from our investors validates our approach and allows us to deliver a solution that requires no compromises for our pharma and biotech customers.”
Adjuvo’s investment recognises that Eco-Inject is working to deliver a product that the industry is demanding. The platform offers a seamless transition for pharma customers for whom cost and carbon reductions are important.
Mark Foster-Brown, CEO of Adjuvo, said: “Eco-Inject is redefining what autoinjectors can be – sustainable, scalable, and ready to meet the demands of today’s healthcare market. Adjuvo is hugely excited to support the team as they commercialise this platform and deliver more cost-effective autoinjectors to healthcare providers and users in everyday care.”
Founded by medical device development veteran John Palmer-Felgate, the company has eliminated complexity while achieving significant carbon reduction at cost parity. The platform maintains full compatibility with existing pre-filled syringes (1 & 2.25 mL). Pharma partners can adopt sustainable drug delivery without changes to fill-finish processes, supply chains, or patient training. Cost parity meets carbon reduction. Total reinvention meets zero disruption.
The market for Autoinjectors in the broadest sense was worth $10.37 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach $39.84bn by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 17.2 per cent.
The Eco-Inject team is currently five people and will not be growing until it has product ready for volume manufacture with a specialist partner in Q3/4; more news on that is expected soon.
In terms of territories, the company expects its first customers to be in Europe and the US but ultimately it will target a truly global market. Its manufacturing partner has a worldwide footprint.