The packaging of pharmaceutical products is responsible for preserving the
stability and quality of drugs, as well as protecting them against
counterfeiting. All this without forgetting that the container must
guarantee that it has not been tampered with, presenting difficulties to be
opened by children in order to avoid accidents, among other functions.
Barrier to external factors:
From a
technical point of view, the packaging must guarantee the protection of the medicine from external factors such
as light, temperature, etc., which can cause the degradation of the
medicine. Common causes of drug degradation are: exposure to light, loss
of solvents, exposure to reactive gases (oxygen), absorption of water vapor,
and microbiological contamination.
Active packaging:
Another way
of guaranteeing the protection of agents such as water vapor or oxygen is the
use of so-called active
packaging. These are containers that interact with the product or the
environment, allowing the product to be properly preserved or extending its
useful life.
Anti-counterfeit drugs:
The World
Health Organization estimates that counterfeit
drugs represent more than 10% of the world pharmaceutical market, without
having very precise figures. Although this practice exists in all regions,
developing countries bear the brunt, with an estimated 25% of the drugs
consumed in them have been counterfeit. It is considered that in certain
countries this percentage reaches up to 50% [1].
Guarantee of inviolability and
adapted for the elderly:
On the other
hand, the package must protect the patient by acting as an indicator of the
integrity of the package. For this reason, containers are designed with
“tamper-evidence” devices that unequivocally reveal whether they have already
been opened, such as the guarantee rings on the closures of syrup bottles, or
pill jars. Another important aspect to guarantee the protection of the
patient are the containers or closures that are child-proof (“child-proof”) in
order to prevent children from suffering some type of poisoning due to the
accidental ingestion of medicines. The container or closure is designed in
a way that makes it difficult for children to access the medicine.
For more details please visit: http://www.biotechpackages.com/
