Developments in Barrier Pharma Packaging

Healthcare markets are growing worldwide as populations age and medical advances extend to new regions, bringing a high demand for cost-effective medication in user-friendly packaging. The barrier properties of the containers and blisters are critical in maintaining the product integrity and there are a range of polymer materials that will achieve the target shelf-life for different pharmaceuticals. In Europe the blister packaging format is more dominant and it is used to aid compliance with printed dates and even electronic monitoring of patient behavior.

AMI invites you to participate in the debate at the technical conference, on Barrier Pharma Packaging 2014 to be held October 14–15 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Princeton, New Jersey, USA. In North America there are FDA and USP protocols to be used when selecting packaging and Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceutical will kick off the program with a review of the regulatory initiatives related to packaging. Dr Michael Eakins will follow this with an outline of the US Pharmacopeia approach to extractables and leachables in drug packaging.

Honeywell Healthcare and Packaging will outline the global trends; Asian markets are rapidly expanding and Mr Anand Khare from ACG Pharmapack in India will highlight the branding and protection issues with pharmaceutical packaging. Blister packaging varies between geographic areas and Perlen Packaging will outline the industry in the Americas and Europe. Justin Schroeder of PCI will talk on adherence strategy and how to navigate the development process to achieve child-resistant, consumer-friendly and compliance prompting packaging!

Permeation properties are critical to preservation — Glaxo Smith Kline will talk on the hierarchy of barrier materials. This is followed by Bemis Healthcare Packaging with a new approach to high barrier and Kuraray on the value of EVOH in the pharmaceutical industry.  At Bilcare Research one focus has been drug stabilization through scientific packaging development. The expert consultants at Montesino will speak on balancing barrier requirements and cost reduction needs, covering materials and other aspects.

In terms of containers, Hoffman Neopac has developed easier to use formats for healthcare workers while Clariant Healthcare Packaging has calculated time of protection using multilayer barrier bottles and active ingredients.

The pharmaceutical industry has been plagued by counterfeit products and packaging materials can be used to verify authenticity both through track and trace procedures, but also by incorporating signature molecules into the polymer. Infratrac has worked on barrier-friendly anti-counterfeiting measures and Tracelink has studied the new track and trace regulations to help businesses to prepare and be compliant.