Pharmaceutical and biotech industry perspectives on optimizing patient experience and treatment adherence through subcutaneous drug delivery design

• Patient preferences and perspectives on injectable drug delivery vary widely, though many factors contributing to these differences are not well understood. • The SC Consortium, consisting of members from pharma/biotech industry, aims to advance patient-centric subcutaneous drug delivery. • The Consortium conducted an internal survey of parameters impacting patient experience. • The current knowledge of factors impacting patient preference are discussed and expert insights are provided to address key knowledge gaps. Subcutaneous (SC) drug delivery can be a safe, effective alternative to the traditional intravenous route of administration, potentially offering notable advantages for both patients and healthcare providers. The SC Drug Development & Delivery Consortium convened in 2018 to raise awareness of industry challenges to advance the development of patient-centric SC drug delivery strategies. The SC Consortium identified better understanding of patient preferences and perspectives as necessary to optimize SC product design attributes and help guide design decisions during SC product development. This manuscript provides a comprehensive overview of patient-centric factors for consideration in the SC drug delivery design and development process with the aim of establishing a foundation of existing knowledge for patient experiences related to SC drug delivery. This overview is informed by the outcomes of a multi-step survey of Consortium members and key pharmaceutical stakeholders. Framed in the context of the patient’s treatment journey, the survey findings offer future perspectives to fill data gaps to advance patient-centric SC drug delivery.