Improving Patient Safety through Packaging

At Pharmapack 2009, Catherine Blanchon, in supply chain quality management for Nestle Nutrition, recounted the risks to patient safety often present during administration of parenteral nutrition. Patients often require more than one formula, so treatments can be complex. Custom mixtures are often employed, as are several separate solutions that cannot be mixed. Risks include mixing, dosing, and delivery errors as well as the mistaken intravenous delivery of enteral nutritional. Blanchon wished aloud for packaging that could reduce typical errors, such as a five-chamber package with complete ready-to-use stable nutrition.

Increasing patient safety in healthcare settings continues to be a global priority, and for good reason. “Available data suggest that health care is responsible for about one adverse event occurring in about 10% of hospitalizations in middle to high-income countries, and causing thousands of deaths every year,” reports the World Health Organization. continued

Pharmapack, BIOMEDevice Europe Partner to Showcase Latest Advances in Pharmaceutical and Medical Packaging and Combination Products

Dedicated to showcasing the latest developments in pharmaceutical and medical device packaging, Pharmapack will return to Paris February 1-2, 2010. Now in its 9th edition, the highly focused event will be accompanied by a new partner, BIOMEDevice Europe, which will cover the combination products resulting from the convergence of pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device technologies.

Pharmapack continues its respected tradition of exploring key packaging issues concerning European pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers. The 2010 event offers in-depth conference presentations on the roles packaging plays in terms of compliance, proper drug use and treatment, patient safety, and protection of healthcare personnel. In addition, 200 leading companies representing renowned designers, manufacturers, and suppliers of materials, medical devices, packaging, services and technologies, and production equipment will showcase current advances. continued

Exhibitor News

Another Pharmapack exhibitor promoting ready-to-use prefilled syringes and other drug-delivery solutions, Vetter Pharma International GmbH (Booth B15), recently hosted Dr. Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, the German Federal Minister for Economics and Technology. Minister zu Guttenberg toured Vetter’s main facility in Ravensburg, Germany, specifically the Vetter South site, where liquid and lyophilized drugs are aseptically filled into ready-to-use syringes and other injection systems.

“We are delighted to welcome Minister zu Guttenberg,” commented Udo J. Vetter, Chairman of the Vetter Advisory Board. “Since the company’s founding, Vetter has been experiencing continuous growth and steadily gaining international recognition. We are proud to share our ongoing success story with Minister zu Guttenberg and to represent the sector of medium-sized German enterprises that have built up a strong reputation at home and internationally.” continued