PHILADELPHIA, PA & BOSTON, MA — Thomas Jefferson University and Sempresto Inc. are expanding a strategic partnership aimed at reshaping how patients manage life-threatening allergic reactions, building on an exclusive license for a smartphone-integrated epinephrine autoinjector developed by a Jefferson physician.
The collaboration centers on platform technology invented by Dr. Edmund Pribitkin, a senior executive at Jefferson Health and a professor of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery, who also chairs Sempresto’s scientific advisory board. The device was inspired by personal experience with severe allergies and targets a persistent failure point in emergency care: patients not having epinephrine available when it is urgently needed.
Clinical data show that prompt use of epinephrine sharply reduces hospitalizations and saves lives. Yet nearly two-thirds of patients who experience severe allergic reactions arrive at emergency departments without receiving epinephrine beforehand. Physicians and patient advocates have long cited the bulk, inconvenience, and ease of forgetting traditional autoinjectors as key reasons for that gap.
Sempresto’s approach rethinks the form factor. Its slim autoinjector mounts directly to a smartphone case, integrating rescue medication into an object most people already carry at all times. The company says the design is intended to remove practical barriers to access and improve the likelihood that patients can self-administer epinephrine during an emergency.
Dr. Pribitkin said the goal is to ensure patients are never caught without lifesaving medication when seconds matter. He described the design as a way to normalize emergency preparedness by embedding it into daily life rather than treating it as an accessory that can be forgotten.
Sempresto Chief Executive Officer Elizabeth Reczek said the expanded partnership with Jefferson strengthens the company’s ability to move from invention to commercialization. She said working closely with clinicians and an academic health system helps align the technology with patient behavior, clinical workflows, and payer expectations.
For Jefferson, the partnership reflects a broader push to translate clinician-led innovation into real-world solutions. For Sempresto, it offers institutional backing as it works to bring the product to market.
Both organizations said the collaboration is focused on one outcome: reducing preventable harm by making epinephrine immediately accessible in the moments when it is most likely to save a life.
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