SCHOTT has launched adaptiQ system for ready-to-use pharmaceutical vials, which allows for more flexible manufacturing concepts and more efficient filling.
Designed in close collaboration with filling line manufacturers to meet the pharmaceutical industry’s process requirements, SCHOTT adaptiQ consists of a patented nest that securely holds as many as 100 clean and sterile vials in an industry standard tub. The pharmaceutical company can then immediately fill these vials on its filling lines without having to perform arduous processing steps like washing, drying, and sterilization.
SCHOTT displayed its adaptiQ system at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting and Exposition in San Antonio, Texas,
Pharmaceutical companies are showing greater interest in flexible manufacturing concepts that allow them to produce in small batches with different packaging configurations for more efficient filling. Unlike other solutions currently on the market, adaptiQ subjects vials to the processing steps—including freeze-drying—while inside its patented nest design. Besides simplifying the process, the nested packaging protects the glass containers from scratches caused by vial-to-vial and vial-to-machine contact. This not only reduces the reject rate, but preserves the cosmetic quality of these packaging products.
“By shortening the process chain and reducing its complexity, we can lower costs for pharmaceutical companies. They’ll no longer have to invest in clean rooms, special washing machines, and sterilization tunnels, or spend money to operate them. This is exactly what adaptiQ achieves,” said Gerry Wilkins, director of sales for SCHOTT North America. “Moreover, if pharmaceutical companies can use the same production line for various lot sizes and different types of containers like syringes, vials, and cartridges, this gives them greater freedom to quickly react to new market demands.”
Pharmaceutical companies have taken advantage of nested packaging designs in other areas of packaging for years. Roughly 80 per cent of all prefilled syringes sold in the world today are delivered to the filling lines in the form of a nest and tub configuration. Attempts to apply this successful syringe approach to other types of containers have failed in the past because vials still had to be individually removed from the nest for certain processing steps.
adaptiQ is based on a patented new nest design that now offers a solution to this problem. The vials are held by the neck and can be lifted out of the nest individually while avoiding glass-to-glass contact. Furthermore, the bottom is freely accessible and thus ensures the perfect temperature transition, especially during lyophilization. The patented design developed by SCHOTT follows the common format of syringe manufacturing to ensure that adaptiQ can be processed on existing nest filling lines.
Market introduction is scheduled for the third quarter of 2014 and will start with the most popular ISO formats 2R and 4R. SCHOTT will gradually introduce adaptiQ in all of the most common ISO formats ranging from 2R to 30R. Initial samples are now available.
SCHOTT is an international technology group with more than 125 years of experience in the areas of specialty glasses and materials and advanced technologies. SCHOTT ranks number one in the world with many of its products.