Pharmaceutical products packaging design

Packaging of pharmaceutical dosage forms and medical devices have many requirements in common with other commercial products. Package design must address the finished products needs, including ... 

Allwood M.C. (1990) Package design and product integrity. In Guide to Microbiological Control in Pharmaceuticals (eds S. Denyer R. Baird), pp. 341-355. Chichester Ellis Horwood. 

To show real-world high-technology examples of pharmaceutical product, process, manufacturing, assembly, and packaging system designs, in action, something we cannot do in static, printed books, we have created a supplementary video, in high definition, and compressed onto a DVD. This professionally edited DVD supports... 

Ranky, P. G., Ranky, G. N., and Ranky, R.G. (2006), Examples of pharmaceutical product/ process/manufacturing/assembly and packaging system designs, video on DVD, available www.cimwareukandusa.com. 

As defined by this decree, pharmaceutical products (specialties) are substances and preparations intended for the prevention, mitigation, or cure of diseases, suffering, bodily harm, or complaints among persons or animals that are marketed in packaged form and with special designs, or are marketed as trade-name goods by manufacturers.52... 

A substance or compound, other than the active pharmaceutical ingredient and packaging materials, that is intended or designated to be used in the manufacture of a pharmaceutical product. 

Packaging materials and transportation containers should be of suitable design to prevent damage of pharmaceutical products during transport. 

In the pharmaceutical industry, while drug research or R D is formulating the active product, basic packaging presentations will be vetted as primary containers (i.e. for material stability and compatibility). However, once the drug moves into the production development interface, its total packaging design and application for production, distribution, market (and supplier) necessitates close formal liaison between the writers of the component specification and the quality inspection procedure. 

Premises for the packaging of pharmaceutical products should be specifically designed and laid out so as to avoid mix-ups or cross-contamination. 

Stability Tests A series of tests designed to obtain information on the stability of a pharmaceutical product in order to define its shelf-life and utilization period under specified packaging and storage conditions. 

Pharmaceutical products must meet special quality standards in view of their application. The development, manufacture and packaging, and control must therefore be carried out in such a manner that the quality is adequately preserved. To this end, it is necessary to develop an integrated quality assurance system. Such a Quality Assurance System covers the quality of design as well as the quality of the product as it is marketed (quality of conformity). 

Principles Pharmaceutical products are manufactured, packaged, tested and stored in buildings and with the aid of equipment appropriate for this purpose in regard to design and construction. 

The use of plastics in modern pharmaceutical packaging products is described. Aspects covered include the continual quest for an ideal material and process, properties, machinery and selection criteria (FDA approval, tamper-evident packaging, product-package compatibility, sterilisation, polymer additives, smart design and environmentally-friendly packaging). 

---