Pharmaceutical packing products often have changing usage demands as the treatments they hold change and the equipment used to fill them continue to advance. As a result, there are frequent opportunities for changing production models seen throughout the industry.
An upcoming press conference on barrier pharmaceutical packaging is expected to have plenty of examples of the innovation rife within the industry. One such trend is the growth of Asian markets, which are rapidly expanding. This has led to a shift in packaging strategy, as many companies need to make sure their branding and protection strategies remain consistent in this specific context.
Another focus in the industry has been better preventing counterfeit products and packaging materials. To do this, companies are using track and trace technology to better ensure authentication and incorporating molecules into polymers that create a signature for the product in question. Companies are still working to develop even more strategies that can help fight counterfeiting.
Improvement in containers and barriers
The press conference is also expected to navigate several additional problems. In addition to issues like child-resistant packaging, consumer ease-of-use and packages made to prompt compliance there will be several presentations about material building.
Specifically, several companies will speak about working on barrier improvement materials. Some companies will discuss their development of high barrier products, while others are expected to focus on drug stabilization using scientific development of packaging. The discussions may also cover weighing barrier requirements with cost reduction needs that will help expand the possibilities of using covering materials.
Container development is also changing, as several companies have worked to improve their carrying time and their formats. One company has completely changed labeling formats to make healthcare workers' jobs easier, while others have worked to determine exact time of protection that can be achieved when using multilayer barrier bottles and active ingredients in product development.
New protection styles also growing
More changes have been pioneered by a line of packaging products, specifically dedusters, that aim to make turnkey peripheral devices gain easy-to-use improvements over current production means. Dedusters are commonly used in the pharmaceutical packaging process to protect operators against the possibility of contamination, most often working to wash off residue from other pills when it comes time to shift the type of product being loaded into a bottle. These systems have been created with sophisticated engineering improvements to give users better levels of flexibility while also improving industry standards regarding output and dedusting quality.
The latest models of dedusting equipment feature several functions that aren't normally found in other locations, which include pinch valves on several inlet and extraction points, as well as a pressure decay test that ensures products are fully contained when being put inside containers. Other options include round tablet conveyors for more precise and exact pill placement, as well as clip and cut systems that remove the need for a bottle to have any valves or liners.
Other models on the market have even more improvements in their designs. These include segments that have been sealed by o-rings around their outer edges, which cut down on the usage of expensive equipment, as well as watertight bottom cabinets, water valves, drains and piping. These also feature metal detectors and dedusters that will be automatically and thoroughly washed upon the conclusion of being cleaned and a better tablet control system.
