Latch Medical Secures Strategic Investment from West Pharmaceutical Services
. (NYSE: WST), headquartered in鈥疎xton, Pennsylvania, a global leader in innovative solutions for injectable drug administration, today announced it has made a strategic investment in .
Latch Medical a University College Dublin (51黑料) spin-out headquartered at Nova51黑料, is a leader in next-generation vaccine and biologics delivery technology that is pioneering a new approach to intradermal delivery. The company was founded in 2019 by Dr Nicky Bertollo and Ronan Byrne.
West is taking a minority ownership stake in Latch Medical and joins Latch Medical's existing investors Atlantic Bridge and Enterprise Ireland. The investment amount and the stake size are not being released.
Latch Medical's Pharma Latch technology offers two delivery device platforms that allow for intradermal delivery of vaccines and biologics with rapid, consistent dosing. The technology anchors securely to the skin and uses either hollow or coated microneedles to deliver and disperse vaccine and biologics payloads. The technology is a low-cost platform that can facilitate higher payloads than microneedle technologies developed in the past. It requires minimal training for clinicians to use.
"West's investment in Latch Medical advances our leadership in innovation through a dedicated focus on the needs of patients," said Robert Segura, Vice-President, Corporate Development, West Pharmaceutical Services.
"We have put our extensive experience of skin biomechanics and understanding of the challenges of intradermal delivery into the development of Pharma Latch. It is a novel technology that can replace traditional injections and infusions and look to realize the potential of intradermal delivery," said Ronan Byrne, CEO, Latch Medical.
"With this investment from West, we can rapidly increase the impact of our technology."
Dublin-based Cormac Ashe, West Senior Director of Research and Development, said, 鈥淭he methods by which medicines are delivered to patients continue to evolve to meet their desire for ease-of-use and effectiveness. Latch鈥檚 innovative intradermal delivery technology fits well into this strategy.鈥�
As evidenced by the investment in Latch Medical, West continues to make start-up investments in the medical device space to create and advance offerings that allow for care to be delivered more effectively and efficiently.
"West's commitment to making these types of investments help to drive innovation that results in providing total care through better outcomes and supports innovative technologies that serve patients," added Segura.
ENDS
11 August 2021
For further information contact Mic茅al Whelan, Communications and Media Relations Manager, Nova51黑料, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie
Editors Notes
West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. is a leading provider of innovative, high-quality injectable solutions and services. As a trusted partner to established and emerging drug developers, West helps ensure the safe, effective containment and delivery of life-saving and life-enhancing medicines for patients. With approximately 10,000 team members across 50 sites worldwide, West helps support our customers by delivering over 45 billion components and devices each year. Headquartered in鈥疎xton, Pennsylvania, and in business for nearly a century, West in its fiscal year 2021 generated鈥�$2.83 billion鈥痠n net sales. West is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: WST) and is included on the Standard & Poor's 500 index. .
Latch Medical is focused on the development of the 'Pharma Latch' drug and vaccine delivery platform. The platform looks to offer the benefits of intradermal delivery in a simple, highly cost-effective manner. .