Bioject Medical Technologies

Bioject Medical Technologies Inc. was a developer and manufacturer of needle-free injection therapy systems, founded in 1985. The company's business model centered on two main strategies: licensing its technology to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and direct sales to healthcare providers. By partnering with drug manufacturers, Bioject aimed to provide a more appealing delivery format for injectable products, thereby expanding the market for its partners' medications and creating demand for its injection systems. The company also had a direct sales force focused on the global public health market and utilized distributors for specific applications like pain management in North America and for broader representation in regions like the European Union, South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

The core of Bioject's product line was its needle-free jet injection technology, which works by forcing liquid medication through a tiny orifice held against the skin. This action creates a fine, high-pressure stream of fluid that penetrates the skin to deposit the medication into the tissue beneath without a needle. One of its primary products was the Biojector® 2000, a durable, CO2-powered device for professional healthcare settings, designed to deliver over 100,000 injections. It was cleared by the FDA for both intramuscular and subcutaneous injections. Other products included the ZetaJet™, a spring-powered device for subcutaneous or intramuscular delivery, and customized systems like the cool.click™ for pediatric growth hormone delivery and the SeroJet™ for AIDS wasting treatment, developed in partnership with Ares-Serono Group. The company also developed systems for the veterinary market, such as the Derma-Vac™ NF for production animals.

Richard B. Hollis joined Bioject in 1991 as Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales and became Chief Operating Officer in 1992. With a background in product sales at Baxter Travenol and experience at Genentech during the launch of major biotechnology products, Hollis drove the redesign of the company's main product, the Biojector. James C. O'Shea also served as the company's Chairman, President, and CEO. Throughout its history, Bioject established partnerships with several pharmaceutical companies, including Amgen, Roche, Trimeris, and Alkermes, to develop and supply its needle-free systems for specific drugs. A significant milestone in the company's history was its acquisition by Inovio Pharmaceuticals in May 2016 for $4.3 million in stock and $1.2 million in cash. Inovio acquired all of Bioject's assets, including its technology, devices, and intellectual property, with the goal of integrating the jet injection technology with its own electroporation delivery system to create a non-invasive device for administering DNA vaccines.

Keywords: needle-free injection, jet injector, drug delivery system, Biojector 2000, medical device, vaccine administration, pharmaceutical partnerships, subcutaneous injection, intramuscular injection, Inovio acquisition, medication delivery, veterinary medicine, public health, pain management, CO2-powered injector, spring-powered injector, drug reconstitution, vial adapter, mass immunization, ZetaJet