Boehringer Ingelheim

Handihaler

Challenge:

Chronic Obstructive Pulminory Disease (COPD) is the cause of premature death in some 3 million people every year. Our challenge was to redesign Boehringer Ingelheim’s inhaler for COPD sufferers to achieve improved usability and manufacturing cost reduction.

Solution:

Kinneir Dufort provided a comprehensive programme from research through development and prototyping to specification for production and the manufacture of 10,000 trial units. Our groundbreaking design brought genuine usability and safety benefits and created a protectable visual identity in the unique form of the Handihaler. The inhaler’s technical performance was uncompromised, critical for the maintenance of existing medical approvals. In addition, our design rationalisation reduced component count by 30% and, combined with reduced assembly time, overall production cost was reduced by 60%.

Results:

Within 2 years of launch Handihaler was the world’s most prescribed COPD product, approved for use in 40 countries. With global sales in excess of $1Bn the Handihaler, teamed with its COPD drug, is a true pharmaceutical blockbuster. The Handihaler design has also won many awards including the German iF (international Forum) Awards, the DesignWeek Award Grand Prix and the Japanese Good Design Award 2004