Bringing a new pharmaceutical product to market can be an exciting and often difficult time for manufacturers, and packaging
considerations are not often top of mind in the early stages of the development process. Early guidance from experts with
experience in packaging applications and manufacturing practices can help manufacturers augment their production processes
by identifying potential hazards associated with packaging materials early in development. By working together, drug and packaging
manufacturers can develop a customized solution that reduces the risk of container-closure failure.
Such a partnership can help mitigate risk, increase efficiencies, and ensure sustainability while improving products and processes.
By redefining traditional production roles, choosing consistent components and high-quality materials, differentiating between
drug product with a unique delivery or administration system, and focusing on core competencies, pharmaceutical companies
can deliver a safe, effective product that will stand out in the marketplace.
Redefining roles—early partnerships reduce risk
Enhanced regulations and regulatory guidance on current good manufacturing practices, as well as the trend toward biopharmaceuticals,
have all impacted drug-product manufacturing. Amendments to the Food and Drug Administration regulations for finished pharmaceuticals
(21 CFR 210 and 211) require more stringent compliance concerning the preparation of components for sterile drug products.
Those requirements include the need for each lot of a drug product's container/closure system components susceptible to contamination
to undergo microbiological testing (i.e., bioburden and endotoxin) before the products are used, as well as validation for
all aseptic and sterilization processes. By partnering with a packaging manufacturer, pharmaceutical companies can improve
manufacturing technologies, which in turn creates more sophisticated, high-quality container-closure and drug-delivery systems.
Such a partnership is a benefit to both drug and packaging manufacturers. The ability to understand each other's processes
and trouble-shoot potential pitfalls will allow the packaging manufacturers to improve their products and processes to meet
the needs and standards for high quality that both the drug manufacturer and the regulatory agencies seek. Early-phase partnerships
enable pharmaceutical companies to build a sustainable manufacturing process that increases efficiencies while creating product
that has fewer issues with contamination or rejection. There is the additional added benefit of increasing knowledge management
by broadening the exchange of information past just the drug manufacturer's internal knowledge base.
Consistent components help eliminate extractables and leachables
Pharmaceutical manufacturers should look for packaging components that are consistent from lot to lot. Such components will
help avoid costly issues with leachables, particularly when packaging is used consistently throughout the life cycle of the
drug product. Using the same packaging materials from research and development to commercialization helps manufacturers determine
the possibility of interaction between the drug and its packaging early in the process. Interactions can lead to issues, such
as glass delamination and leachables, which can affect patient safety.
Components can be certified on a lot-to-lot basis for extractables and may include an extractables profile and/or specifications.
Certification helps assure that the composition of the closures, and the closure-manufacturing processes, are uniform. These
high-value components, including stoppers and syringe pistons, address several industry challenges, including giving the customer
the ability to move quickly into a leachables-testing program. A comprehensive technical package can be provided that expedites
drug-application-specific leachables testing. It also provides verification of change control around the component itself.
This is critical when the drug-development and commercialization cycle can take years to complete.
High-quality materials can help avoid costly recalls
Choice of packaging material can impact a manufacturer's bottom line now or in the future. By selecting container-closure
systems made from a novel material such as a cyclic olefin polymer, companies may incur a slightly higher initial investment,
but the long-term advantages can far outweigh this outlay.
Cyclic olefin polymers enable manufacturers to offer a high-quality, transparent, break-resistant material that is more inert
than glass, is scratch resistant and, unlike glass, does not flake, which reduces particulate contamination within a vial
or syringe system. These components also can be stored and shipped at low temperature with reduced breakage, which is a common
requirement of many biologics.
Using a plastic system over an existing glass system can help pharmaceutical manufacturers prevent the following:
- Failures of finished drug product (i.e., defects during manufacturing process and distribution)
- Internal failures in product development and production
- Defects in the development process that result in lost research time and slower time to market
- Costly preventive action and process improvement
- The multitude of issues associated with market recalls.
