Month: August 2019

Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corporation has joined forces with the University of South Carolina College of Engineering and Computing to design and implement an automation process that significantly boosts production of pre-filled medication, reducing the physical burden on workers and increasing patient safety. 

Traditionally, pre-filled syringes are filled by hand in clean-room environments. In recent years, federal regulations governing sterile compounding have become more stringent and complex as a result of accidental contaminations.  The use of robots to compound prescription products exceeds those new federal guidelines and provides a more sterile environment with better accuracy and precision than traditional methods of compounding.  

The research collaboration with Nephron will position UofSC to develop state-of-the-art sterile compounding methods benefiting hospitals throughout South Carolina and the nation. 

“Demand for pre-filled medication has exploded in recent years, and our company is responding to the market needs for affordable and accessible life-saving medications in pre-filled syringes,” said Nephron CEO Lou Kennedy. “We are excited to partner with innovative students and leading researchers from Engineering and Pharmacy at the University of South Carolina to meet the demands of hospitals and patients, and we look forward to working together for years to come.” 

To help Nephron meet the market demand, the College of Engineering and Computing and the College of Pharmacy have finalized plans to build a fully functional sterile compounding lab at the McNAIR Aerospace Center. This fully functional, first-of-its-kind compounding suite will offer students the opportunity to learn and develop the techniques of sterile, robotic manufacturing processes for human drug compounding.  

Between the College of Engineering and Computing and the College of Pharmacy, well over a dozen undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students are involved in the project. Utilizing a state-of-the-art robot from UofSC corporate partner Yaskawa-Motoman Robotics, as well as Process Simulate – a Siemens software package included in its $628 million gift to McNAIR Center and to the College of Engineering and Computing in 2017 – these students are learning skills that will immediately translate to increased job opportunities upon graduation. 

“This team is a unique collection of talents, not just from Engineering but with advisors from the College of Pharmacy and partners from Office of Economic Engagement as well,” said Ramy Harik of the McNAIR Aerospace Center, who leads the project design team. “By bringing together a cross-disciplinary team, and constantly seeking feedback from Nephron engineers and pharmacists, our students are building a real-life application that, when completed, will be implemented in production. Particularly for our undergraduate students, this type of impactful research experience is invaluable.” 

The Nephron project is a continuation of an ongoing university partnership with the company. When Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corporation opened its manufacturing campus in West Columbia in 2015, proximity to the flagship research university was an important factor.  Owned and operated by UofSC alumni Lou (’84) and Bill (’66) Kennedy, whose $30 million endowment created The Kennedy Pharmacy Innovation Center (KPIC) in the College of Pharmacy in 2010, Nephron has found success by meeting the increasing demand for pre-filled medications at medical facilities nationwide. 

“Our engagement with industry leaders like Nephron is key to helping our students gain important knowledge and experience while solving real-world problems,” said UofSC President Bob Caslen. “By tapping into our research expertise, our corporate partners can bring innovative products to market, which grows their businesses and the state’s economy. That ensures more opportunity for all South Carolinians and furthers our university system’s mission of service.” 

Nephron is a certified woman-owned business and one of the fastest-growing pharmaceutical companies in the country.  In 2017, they added a $12.5 million, 36,000 square foot expansion to its manufacturing facility so that they would be strategic in meeting the U.S. drug shortages. By partnering with UofSC students and researchers, Nephron seeks to fully automate parts of the syringe-filling process.
 

With a new partnership, a pharmaceutical company in West Columbia thinks it can disrupt the market for pain medications needed after surgery, and it’s an option that doesn’t include addictive opioids. 

Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corporation announced Tuesday it is joining forces with a device company to sell medication bags and a pump to dispense the drug together. 

Nephron, which sells many generic drugs and medications in shortage, is billing the product as a “solution for the opioid crisis.” That crisis claimed 816 lives in South Carolina in 2018, an ever-increasing figure, according to data from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control released Monday.

“If you keep the cost down and offer these options, we really should have no reason to reach for opioids,” Lou Kennedy, Nephron’s CEO, said.  

Patients can take the medication and pump home with them. It is a solution much preferable to sending someone home from the hospital with a bottle of pain pills. 

Late last year, Nephron also announced a new non-opioid option for pain management, consisting of three drugs sold in a package of syringes. Nephron says it is both cheaper and safer than opioids. One of the main ingredients to the cocktail is ketamine. 

Dr. Jeffrey Frohock, an anesthesiologist at Roper St. Francis, said recognizing ketamine’s value as a pain treatment has been the most profound change he has seen in his field during his career.

The anesthetic was known to cause hallucinations in children it was administered to, Frohock said, so the medical field was wary of it for a long time. But as concerns about the oversaturation of opioid painkillers in the nation’s hospitals mounted, ketamine began to see more attention. In low doses, the hallucinogenic effects could be managed.

“We came back to it because we knew it was a great pain reliever,” Frohock said. He called the drug “exceptionally safe.”

Roper St. Francis has been using a different pump to administer ketamine and other pain medications since 2009, Frohock said. The fact that Nephron will fill the pumps — rather than having a hospital pharmacist do it — will make the solution more attractive, he said. Right now, he said Roper St. Francis spends considerable staff hours filling the pumps themselves.

Roper St. Francis began a program in 2017 aimed at reducing opioid prescriptions. In 2018, the hospital system brought consumption of the narcotics down 38 percent, Frohock said.

Read the entire story here.

WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. – Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corporation today announced a new partnership with InfuTronix Solutions, LLC. The collaboration offers a cost-effective and efficient non-narcotic therapy solution for post-operative pain management. 

“We are proud to partner with InfuTronix Solutions to deliver opioid-free pain medication to patients across the country,” said Nephron CEO Lou Kennedy. “The overuse of opioids is a crisis in America. Non-narcotic pain management is a cost-saving way that companies like ours can help save lives.”

The Nimbus II PainPRO – an electronic ambulatory pain pump distributed by InfuTronix Solutions – is a cutting-edge electronic pain pump that accurately controls delivery of fluid from a source bag of non-narcotic medication to the surgical area.

Prescription opioid medications continue to play a fundamental role in the recovery after invasive surgical procedures such as orthopedics, spine, and major abdominal procedures. As the opioid crisis grows, the search for cost-effective and time efficient alternative solutions is underway to establish consistent and reliable techniques that decrease patients’ reliance on opioids for post-operative pain management. 

The Nimbus II PainPRO is designed for increased safety at an exceptional value. With customizable Protocols, Nimbus enables a facility to preload their infusion orders with facility specified safe guards to protect against under or over infusion of medication.  Additionally, having a flexible reservoir volume capable to infuse up to 1.5 L of medication, and enhanced features like Programmed Intermittent Bolus mode (PIB), Patient Demand Bolus (PCA), and Delay Start enable Nimbus to extend a non-narcotic infusion therapy further into the recovery period reliably turning 2 days of therapy into 4 or more as desired. Patient reported outcomes can be tracked with the PRO App. 

When paired with the Nephron non-narcotic pre-mixed medication bags, the total solution effectively manages pain throughout the episode of care. The Nephron pre-mixed bags enable this package to be a turnkey solution that is accessible, easy, and affordable for any customer, regardless of if they have a compounding pharmacy on-site or not. Nephron’s state-of-the-art facility brings a high level of quality, safety, and reliability the industry deserves. Together, Nephron and Nimbus offer the all-inclusive workflow solution at an aggressive price point delivering greater value for hospitals and surgery centers striving to produce an opioid avoidance strategy for the patients they serve.

About InfuTronix Solutions

InfuTronix Solutions LLC aims to deliver safe, simple to use, and smart pain management therapy at a cost anyone can afford while refusing to compromise the quality or level of service the industry rightfully demands. They continue to evolve their platform faster than ever to leverage today’s tech-centered world and bring a higher level of care to our friends and family.

About Nephron

Nephron 503B Outsourcing is a division of Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corporation. This division produces pre-filled sterile syringes and IV bags for hospitals and surgery centers across America, in an effort to alleviate their drug shortage needs. In accordance with the DQSA draft guidance, the company follows cGMP, GDP and all quality expectations. The company has been licensed by the Food and Drug Administration as a sterile manufacturer of generic respiratory medications along with an Outsourcing Facility providing equal sterility and quality. Nephron received a 2017 ISPE/FOYA innovation award for the high level of automation present throughout the facility. For more information, please visit www.nephronpharm.com.
 

Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corporation is partnering with Clemson University to create a robotic solution for syringe-filling automation to enhance sterile manufacturing in the pharmaceutical production process and keep up with growing hospital demands.

“We are excited about our new partnership with Clemson, and we cannot wait to get started,” said Nephron CEO Lou Kennedy. “Working together with Clemson’s world-class researchers and engineers, we can ensure that the pharmaceutical manufacturing process remains safe, and we can deliver life-saving drugs to patients and hospitals across the country.”

The University’s newest strategic partner is turning to Clemson to harness the power of technology for more efficient processes. To do so, Nephron is enlisting the expertise of the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Science professor and researcher Yue “Sophie” Wang and mechanical engineering doctoral student Brandon Delspina and mechanical engineering master’s student Yu “Gloria” Zhang. 

Their robotics research for syringe automation will support the Nephron 503B Outsourcing Facility, a cGMP manufacturer providing sterile, pre-filled medications to address persistent drug shortages in hospitals and medical facilities across America. 

“When the External Affairs’ Office of Corporate Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives approached us about this project we were excited to get involved,” said Wang, associate professor of mechanical engineering. “Our work in robotics can have a tremendous impact on individuals across the country and we are looking forward to working on this because of its benefits for the many patients Nephron serves.”

Based in West Columbia, Nephron is a certified woman-owned business and one of the fastest-growing companies in South Carolina. This is Nephron’s first partnership with the University and was developed through External Affairs’ Office of Corporate Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives at Clemson University.

“Industry needs are changing at a rapid rate and Clemson is equipped to support companies like Nephron. Together, we have created a mutually beneficial project to enhance their capabilities while providing the University’s students with unique, hands-on research experience,” said Angie Leidinger, vice president for External Affairs. “This partnership is a testament to the work happening at Clemson and we’re looking forward to this collaboration, which will advance their business and benefit South Carolinians.”