Drug Delivery

Today’s pharmaceuticals are increasingly being delivered via novel routes, and many are designed for patients to use when treating themselves. “Drug products are undergoing design revisions, giving changing patient populations user-friendly options,” explains Don Singer, Global Lead Quality Manager, Microbiology R&D, GlaxoSmithKline. “It is not just pills and tablets any more. We are seeing many inhalable and intranasal products, and parenterals are no longer just delivered directly by standard syringes and from vials, especially in the oncology field.

Secondary packaging is undergoing innovation. At Pharmapack Europe, Perfecseal exhibited a solution consisting of an inner tray and a clear plastic outer carton utilizing the company’s PerfecLink interlocking mechanism.

Alan Shortall, founder and CEO of Unilife Corp., senses a shift in healthcare. “About 50% of all healthcare will be administered outside of healthcare facilities and outside the home within ten years,” he says, quoting an E&Y report. “Healthcare will increasingly be self-injected by patients while they are on the go, such as at work or even the gym.”

At Pharmapack Europe 2013, Aptar Pharma Prescription Division presented Twister, its new device for capsule-based dry-powder inhaler (DPI) applications. Adam M. Shain, associate director, business development, Aptar Pharma Prescription Division spoke about Twister at the Pharmapack Europe conference on February 14. “Aptar Pharma is very pleased to present Twister at Pharmapack Europe," says Shain. "This device is designed to fulfill regional needs for a simpler and cost effective solution to deliver dry powder to the lungs.

Rexam Healthcare is expanding its La Verpillière site near Lyon, France, which since 2008 has produced subsets of an insulin injection pen for Eli Lilly and Co. Rexam's site specializes in drug administration systems, such as inhalers for asthma and injection devices, and houses Rexam Healthcare’s European Technology Center.

On February 13-14, 2013, Pharmapack Europe will take place at the Grande Halle de la Villette in Paris, hosting 290 companies exhibiting pharmaceutical packaging and drug delivery systems. The 2013 event will focus on the role the patient plays in driving the development of drug delivery systems and pharmaceutical packaging. Below we list a number of innovations scheduled for exhibition. For details on the event, contact UBM Canon at pharmapack@ubm.com or visit www.pharmapack.fr.