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As cell therapies are making their way to the market, safe and efficient transfer/delivery presents a challenge. Needles and syringes are commonly used to retrieve cell therapies from vials, posing the risk of needle stick injury. To address this, West has evaluated the suitability of its needle-free polycarbonate vial adapters (VAs) for withdrawing contents from vials from both a compatibility and performance standpoint.

Administration of cell therapy drug products requires the delivery of cell suspensions without loss of function or viability. Cells must be transferred aseptically from their original container closure system to the administration system by infusion. However, the common transfer practice of using needles and syringes to pierce vial stoppers to retrieve contents poses a risk, namely needle-stick injury to clinicians.

Coring, fragmentation, and stopper push-in are some of the common issues associated with rubber stoppers used with transfer devices (e.g., vial adapters). This is because they are punctured with spikes, which are significantly larger in diameter than needles, and are made from plastic materials.