BD, Suttons Creek Partner to Support Pharma & Biotech Companies Developing Combination Products

Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) and Suttons Creek, a BlueRidge Life Sciences company, have entered a strategic, non-exclusive collaboration to support pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies developing drug-device combination products.

Under the arrangement, ZebraSci—BD’s device-agnostic combination product testing organization—will pair its testing services with Suttons Creek’s combination product development and systems integration capabilities. BD said ZebraSci provides data-driven testing intended to inform feasibility, performance, verification and validation work.

The companies pointed to growing complexity in drug-device programs as more pipelines incorporate biologics, GLP-1 therapies and other combination products. They said development teams may contend with multiple vendors and handoffs across engineering, testing, quality and regulatory workstreams, and that the collaboration is intended to improve coordination while allowing sponsors to select partners and technologies independently.

“Combination product development increasingly requires close coordination across strategy, testing and delivery system considerations,” said Patrick Jeukenne, Worldwide President, BD Pharmaceutical Systems. “This collaboration brings together complementary expertise from both companies, helping customers reduce development risk and address regulatory considerations while maintaining choice and flexibility in how they move their programs forward.”

The collaboration is aimed at helping teams manage compressed development timelines and delivery requirements, including for biologics and GLP-1 therapies. The companies claim earlier alignment can reduce late-stage changes by identifying gaps and handoffs earlier in development.

“Combination product development spans multiple vendors and siloed workstreams, driving friction, delays, duplication, and regulatory risk,” said Carolyn Dorgan, Vice President of Solutions Engineering at Suttons Creek. This fragmentation often drives FDA data requests stemming from misaligned strategy and testing partners—our collaboration enables a more coordinated and efficient path forward.”

Benefits of the collaboration include:

• Earlier alignment across strategy, testing, and delivery device considerations.
• Strengthening integration and coordination across the planning and execution of key Design History File deliverables, which should reduce development and regulatory risks.
• Faster decision-making and fewer delays caused by disconnected vendor handoffs.
• More efficient management of external partners.
• Objective device evaluation supported by ZebraSci’s testing expertise.
• Continued flexibility to choose the providers and solutions best suited to their program.

Suttons Creek typically engages early in product planning and development strategy, which could bring testing and delivery considerations into programs sooner. ZebraSci could also refer sponsors that may need earlier strategic or development support, with the goal of reducing downstream delays tied to timing gaps, supplier onboarding, or misaligned assumptions.

The model is intended to reduce fragmentation between planning and execution as sponsors advance combination products from concept through clinical review and commercialization.