6. ApiJect Systems: $111 million (Drug Delivery)
ApiJect Systems develops fill-finish technology for sterile liquid medicines and vaccines, working with pharmaceutical manufacturers on delivery devices for their drugs.The Stamford, Connecticut–based company not only designs the drug delivery systems, but partners with a CMO to fill-finish up to 45 million units per month. ApiJect said its first product submitted for regulatory approval will be its Prefilled ApiJect Injector, which can deliver a 0.5mL dose with just a squeeze of the container.
Founded by Marc Koska and Jay Walker in 2018 to prevent deaths and infections from reused syringes, the company prototyped the first blow-fill-seal (BFS) inline, prefilled injector in 2018. Near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the company worked with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on BFS-based drug delivery systems for emergency response and then the Department of Defense on emergency capacity for COVID vaccines.
ApiJect said its May 2022 funding round valued it around $300 million.
“ApiJect is developing an innovative portfolio of drug delivery devices using high-speed BFS manufacturing, which is recognized by the FDA as an advanced aseptic process that forms, fills and seals a single unit dose in a continuous, automated manufacturing step,” the company said in a news release announcing the funding. “BFS technology greatly reduces the risk of contamination and error during one of the most critical steps of drug production. BFS is cost-efficient for short and long runs, and highly suitable to scale quickly in order to meet unexpected spikes in demand such as for a rapid response to population-scale health emergencies. Advancements developed by ApiJect for temperature management now enable BFS manufacturing of a vast array of sterile injectable drugs, including ultra-cold mRNA vaccines.”