Your source for news, trends and analysis of pharmaceuticals, biologics, medical devices, and nutraceuticals.

Watson Laboratories’ Glipizide Key.In package won the 2007 Compliance Package of the Year award from the Healthcare Compliance Packaging Council . The package, a unique carded wallet, is manufactured by Nosco for Watson Laboratories. The pack functions with a removable key card that must be inserted into a lock in order to access the blisters within.

Two pharmaceuticals and one medical device package were among those to win the Institute of Packaging Professionals’ 2007 AmeriStar Awards. In the Pharmaceutical and Drug category, Mylan Pharmaceuticals chose MeadWestvaco Health & Beauty Packaging’s Shellpak (shown) to answer Wal-Mart's challenge to its generic prescription drug producers to provide cost-effective, patient-adherence packaging.

The task of securing the supply chain and the need to adopt a layered approach using overt and covert security features often seems overwhelming; companies don’t know where to start or what technologies to invest in. That was a key message taken from anti-counterfeiting sessions at the 2008 Americas Technology Summit, an event focusing on brand protection and sustainability held in San Juan, Puerto Rico April 16-17. Americas Technology Summit was sponsored by National Label Co. and MWV .

Noting that some 850 million people around the world are starving, Ipack-Ima CEO Guido Corbella told journalists at an April 25 press briefing during interpack in Dusseldorf, Germany, that an international summit on the subject of world hunger would be part of Ipack-Ima 2009. Supported by the United Nations and the Italian Ministry for Agricultural, Environmental and Food Policies, the proposed summit is aimed at identifying contributions that food production and packaging systems can make in a global effort to address the problem of world hunger.

David Howard (shown), director product protection global brand integrity at Johnson & Johnson, spoke about how to implement a brand-protection program. “The first step in any organization is to know thyself,” Howard advised. “Where are your products made? How do you distribute? Where do you market? Are you local? Regional? Global? Who touches your products?” Without detailed answers to such questions, solutions being considered or the ones already being implemented may be misguided, Howard told the audience at the first Brand-Protection Packaging Forum.

Pharmaceutical company packaging OEE's (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) are reported to be among the lowest in the industry. Experience teaches that those feeling the greatest amount of pain are the ones most likely to successfully drive change. Perhaps that is why three giant pharmaceutical companies reported on their efforts in this area at ARC's Forum on Winning Strategies and Best Practices for Global Manufacturers.

Three major healthcare stakeholders are among the speakers who will deliver presentations April 8 in Chicago at the Brand-Protection Packaging Forum, which is produced by Packaging World magazine. Global marketing director Akan Oton (shown in photo) of Catalent Pharma Services will share details of an ambitious implementation of a track-and-trace solution based on 2D bar codes that is designed to meet California's e-pedigree requirements.

Jan Gates, principal sterile barrier (packaging) engineer, Abbott Vascular, offered the following recommendations when considering hiring a consultant, or working with consultants. Her comments come from the January 28 MD&M (Medical Design & Manufacturing) West Conference in Anaheim, CA:
• Hire a consultant when temporary assistance is required – new business deadlines, short term business problems, independent advise needed, searching for cost savings, etc.

A cloud of uncertainty hangs over the pharmaceutical industry in Puerto Rico following the expiration of tax incentives from Section 936 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Could emerging combinations of biopharmaceuticals and medical devices provide a silver lining? A report from Interphex Puerto Rico.

New Brand Protection Packaging Forum presents strategies for brand owners to protect their products from counterfeiting, diversion, and gray-market distribution, using the latest packaging-related technologies. Summit Publishing Company, publisher of Healthcare Packaging magazine, announces the launch of a new conference for brand owners looking to enhance the security of their products using the latest packaging technologies. Produced by Summit Publishing Company’s flagship magazine, Packaging World, the Brand-Protection Packaging Forum will take place on April 8, 2008 at the Chicago Marriott Schaumburg.

An International Packaging Panel at the March 12 Pharmaceutical Packaging Forum (PPF) (www.pack
world.com/ppf) will be co-sponsored by Ipack-Ima Spa (www.ipackima.it), organizers of Pharmintech (www.pharmintech.com), which is held every three years in Italy.

There exists “a great deal of misinformation” when it comes to accelerated aging of medical device packaging, said Curt Larsen of Spartan Design Group, LLC (952/380-1458), at the January 28 MD&M (Medical Design & Manufacturing) West Medical Device Packaging Conference in Anaheim, CA.

In the next decade, counterfeit drugs will double, according to Alistair Dand, marketing manager for LGR Emballages, a supplier of folding cartons in France. Currently, one out of every two drugs bought on the internet is a fake. “Counterfeiters are benefiting in developed countries from our desire for lifestyle drugs," said Dand, "and in developing countries from the need for life-saving drugs." Dand offered these remarks February 7, 2008, at Pharmapack in Paris.

Certain types of cancer are becoming "chronic" diseases and call for changes in packaging, according to Dr. Joseph Gligorov, an oncologist in France. He made these remarks February 6, 2008, at Pharmapack in Paris, France, during a session titled, "Cancer Treatment: The Emerging Role of Packaging." While cancer rates are growing around the world, from 10 million cases diagnosed in 2000 to 15 million projected in 2020, many of these are due to the aging population, people who may also suffer from a variety of other ailments. More than 650 drugs to fight cancer are currently in the pipeline.

Attending the yearly HealthPack conference is an important educational opportunity for the medical device community, agree John Spitzley (shown in photo) and Curt Larsen, the event’s co-chairmen who developed the agenda for the March 4 – 6 event at the Sheraton Gunter Hotel in San Antonio. “At HealthPack 2008, the keynote speaker will be Mary Jo Steiert, president of AORN, the Assn. of periOperative Registered Nurses,” says Larsen.

A medical device packaging track chaired by Randall Troutman (shown in photo), CPP, Oliver Medical Products, will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Jan. 28, during the MD&M (Medical Design & Manufacturing) West Conference at the Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA. MD&M will be co-located with six other manufacturing shows at WestPack.

Pharmaceutical firms seek packaging line improvements to cut costs, biologics present packaging challenges, and medical device growth is driven by aging baby boomers. These treatment advances bode well for the healthcare/life sciences packaging community. Packaging materials need to offer protection from point of manufacture to the “last mile” where healthcare products reach a patient. Packaging materials must provide barriers for moisture, oxygen, light and heat, and they may include overt and/or covert security measures to combat counterfeiting and diversion. Equipment will need to package products more efficiently, be validatable and versatile.

A new course, Packaging Line Performance Workshop, will give packagers the skills, tools, and knowledge they require to improve the efficiency of their packaging lines. Produced by Packaging World, the two-day intensive workshop teaches attendees the fundamentals of packaging line performance improvement. Attendees will learn how to measure OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) on their packaging lines, and will come away with practical experience to put to immediate use.

Panelists from McKesson Corp., Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Amerisource Bergen Corp., and Ahold USA recognize that while radio-frequency identification (RFID) offers promise in the pharmaceutical sector, its adoption raises questions. That message came through loud and clear at a recent gathering at the EPC Connection event, held in Chicago in October.

Healthcare Packaging and Packaging World, producers of the Pharmaceutical Packaging Forum, and Ipack-Ima Spa, organizers of Pharmintech, announce a cooperative agreement in which Healthcare Packaging and Packaging World will offer promotional support to Ipack-Ima Spa, increasing the visibility for their Italian trade event, Pharmintech, to the U.S. pharmaceutical market. Pharmintech, held every three years in Italy, will next take place May 12th -14th, 2010 in Bologna, Italy.

Wyeth’s Charlie Portwood and Teva Global Generic Resource’s Uri Boneh will serve among the keynote speakers at The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering’s (ISPE) annual meeting Nov. 4 – 7 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The event will feature more than 40 sessions, with topics including packaging, product quality lifecycle implementation, pandemic flu preparedness, personalized medicine, nanotechnology, disposables, and project management.

Süd-Chemie Performance Packaging has opened a new facility in New Milford, CT. Co-located in the same building with one of its strategic partners, MedInstill, the facility will be home to advanced packaging production including injection-molding, injection/blow- molding, printing, and assembly of a variety of polymer-based packaging products. Currently the plant is supplying printed tubes and desiccant stoppers for the effervescent market in the U.S.

A call for RFID pilots was heard from the California Board of Pharmacy during the 4th Annual EPC Connection Conference & Exhibition held in early October in Rosemont, IL. Judi Nurse, supervising inspector of the California Board of Pharmacy, noted that the goal through electronic tagging is to prevent counterfeit drugs from entering the supply chain in California. "The problem has been the inability to track the source of counterfeit drugs," she said.

Packaging Hall of Fame inductee Edward J. Bauer, investigative reporter and award-winning author Katherine Eban, and Joint Equipment Transition Team (JETT) Chairman Jim John are among the speakers scheduled to make presentations at the upcoming Pharmaceutical Packaging Forum (PPF) 2008.

Packaging Hall of Fame inductee Edward J. Bauer, investigative reporter and award-winning author Katherine Eban, and Joint Equipment Transition Team (JETT) Chairman Jim John are among the speakers scheduled to make presentations at the upcoming Pharmaceutical Packaging Forum (PPF) 2008. Produced by Healthcare Packaging and Packaging World magazines, the event will be held on Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at The Rittenhouse Hotel in Philadelphia, the same venue that hosted the initial PPF March 29, 2007.

Market demand for pre-filled syringes is growing faster than suppliers can build capacity, with project lead times pushing 35 months. This fact was revealed during a Q&A session following a presentation on trends in biotechnology at Optima Pharma Group’s open house, held in Germany in June.

How do you effectively communicate a new product, service, or packaging application for publication? It’s a question we receive with some frequency here at Healthcare Packaging and Packaging World magazines. Click on this story's headline to read some suggestions. One additional note: Healthcare Packaging will resume its four-times-per-month electronic newsletter beginning Friday, Aug. 3.

Much like drivers appreciate the performance, handling, and flexibility of the finest sports cars,
Italian contract manufacturer/packager Fine Foods N.T.M. (New Technology Manufacturing) S.p.A opts for similar characteristics in the packaging machinery it specifies. As manufacturers speed their products to market, it increases the deadline pressures on companies such as Fine Foods. In turn, Fine Foods relies on packaging machinery for the flexibility and output it needs to meet the demands of its manufacturer-customers.

In June, eight U.S. packaging students visited Pharmintech 2007 and toured packaging machinery supplier plants in Bologna and Milan, Italy. The trip was part of the sixth-annual Italian Packaging Technology Awards (IPTA) program. The program included a writing competition in which students from 15 North American universities wrote a paper on technical innovations in the packaging industry. The eight winners were awarded a trip to Italy to visit the Italian packaging suppliers. The accompanying photo shows students during a visit to IMA on June 13.

The second Pharmaceutical Packaging Forum will be held March 12, 2008 at Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Hotel, the same site that hosted the sold-out initial PPF in March, 2007. Sponsored by Healthcare Packaging and Packaging World magazines, this year's PPF will include conference presentations, networking opportunities, and exhibits.

The second Pharmaceutical Packaging Forum will be held March 12, 2008 at Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Hotel, the same site that hosted the sold-out initial PPF in March, 2007. Sponsored by Healthcare Packaging and Packaging World magazines, this year’s PPF will include conference presentations, networking opportunities, and exhibits.

July 20, 2007 is the deadline for presentations to be made at Interphex 2008 and at HealthPack 2008. Interphex 2008 will be held March 26 – 28, 2008 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. HealthPack 2008 will take place March 4-6 at the Sheraton Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, TX.

Michael Becker, director of engineering, Pfizer GmbH, reported on a four-year project, “FAST,” (Fully Automated Supply and Transport), recently completed at the firm’s Freiburg, Germany plant. The plant produces tablets and capsules of Lipitor, Valoron and Neurotin for 80 different countries in a wide variety of package configurations. The highly automated, computer integrated plan helped the plant achieve OEE comparable with other industries, depending on the equipment measured.

• Biopharmaceutical and biomedical technologies and treatments will be advanced in large part by developing countries. Although only 5% to 7% of biological products now in clinical development will actually make it to the market, they will play an important role as the life sciences industry begins to develop custom solutions for individual patients rather than focusing exclusively on the larger market. But such treatments will require a change in packaging and processing methods, as well as regulatory procedures.

At this year’s Interphex conference and exhibition event in New York, the Healthcare Compliance Packaging Council (HCPC) selected its 2006 Compliance Package of the Year awards. The PocketPak (shown) earned package of the year honors. Reportedly used in England by Boots Pharmacies, PocketPak uses a patented design developed by Burgopak and Structural Graphics.

Attention packagers in the healthcare business: Healthcare has entered a time of profound change. That's according to TRAX: Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Integrity, a conference held May 3-4 in Baltimore and produced by the Institute for International Research. The conference brought the following ideas to its audience:

Read three separate reports from February’s Medical Device & Manufactur-ing show in Anaheim covering:

Aylward Enterprises appoints Dana S. Waterman as CEO... Hubert H. Keil, managing director and CEO of Uhlmann Packaging Systems, was appointed vice chairman of the Board of Directors of the Healthcare Compliance Packaging Council... TCP Reliable acquired the assets of Cryopak Industries... International Business Solutions Alliance, LLC signed an agreement with SATO America, Inc., to offer a more secure method of administering patient care and improved patient safety through SATO's Positive Patient Identification solution... Paxonix and Global Vision have formed a drug packaging partnership to help companies reduce packaging blunders and meet compliance and validation demands... Oracle acquired Tolas Healthcare Packaging... Perfecseal will expand several facilities, including those in New London, WI; Derry, Northern Ireland; and Selangor, Malaysia.

At the Pharmaceutical Packaging Forum, Attorney Eric F. Greenberg revealed key Food and Drug Administration issues pertaining to healthcare packaging. Among them were drug safety, inspections, cGMPs, labeling of prescription and OTC drugs, and how a unique coalition came together last year to lobby for more FDA funding.