Symbioze® the Electromechanical On-Body Drug Delivery System for Large-Volume Immunotherapies 

Corinne Malica and Cécile Gross of Nemera discuss the challenges involved in developing a wearable device for on-body drug delivery of advanced biologics, with a focus on the immunotherapy sector, and the technical solutions that can overcome them, using Nemera’s Symbioze® as an example.

The increasing use of biologic therapies such as large-molecule drugs, especially monoclonal antibodies and other immunotherapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases leads to new advanced drug delivery systems development. Many of these biologics historically require intravenous (IV) infusions in clinics due to their high doses and volume, placing significant burden on patients and healthcare systems. Subcutaneous (SC) administration offers a patient-friendly alternative – reducing infusion times from hours to minutes and enabling treatment outside of hospitals. However, delivering the necessary large volumes (>2 mL) and/or high viscosity formulations subcutaneously is challenging with conventional drug delivery systems. In response, on-body drug delivery systems have emerged as a promising solution to enable safe SC delivery of high-dose (inducing larger volume) or higher-concentration (increasing viscosity) biologics. These motorized wearable drug delivery systems attach to the patient’s body and autonomously infuse the medication at a controlled rate over an extended period, thereby facilitating at-home administration of complex cancer immunotherapies and other biologics that would otherwise require clinic-based infusions. This article maps out how Symbioze® address key issues like injectability, patient comfort, usability, and connectivity. 

Enabling Subcutaneous Delivery of Large-Volume Biologics  

Conventional autoinjectors administer up to 2 ml of drug substance and rely on spring forces to push drug quickly (in 10–15 seconds), which could become impractical and painful for patient as volume or viscosity increases. On-body delivery system devices address these challenges by allowing volumes of 20 –30 mL over extended periods (several minutes up to an hour), at controlled flow rates that potentially mitigate pain and tissue stress. 

In the future, we may see more IV oncology drugs reformulated for SC delivery – using On-body delivery system if volumes are very large – to offer patients the flexibility of receiving treatment in the comfort of their home or local clinic.   

Read the full article here: https://www.nemera.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/176_2025_Sep_Wearables_Nemera.pdf