Pharma top growth market for flexibles
• Flexible packaging converters ranked pharmaceuticals as the top growth market, with aging baby boomers cited as a key reason for the growth. Medical device packaging was ranked as the ninth-highest flexible packaging growth market.
• The medical and pharmaceutical end-use market accounted for $1.5 billion of the $20.5 billion U.S. flexible packaging pie in 2003.
Source: Flexible Packaging Assn., 2004 State of the Industry Report
Portola subsidiary introduces brand security measure
Portola Packaging Inc. has launched a new subsidiary, YottaMark, to provide anti-counterfeiting solutions for packaged goods.
YottaMark gives each product a unique "fingerprint" code that identifies products by individual unit. The fingerprint can be covert or overt. It is suitable for most types of packaging, including under-the-cap applications. Using this fingerprint, retailers, manufacturers, brand security or customs officials can authenticate the code using a handheld scanner, PC, or cell phone. Product verification can be done anywhere in the supply chain.
In October, Sealed Air Corp.'s Cryovac Medical Products group opened a new 20,000 sq ft global manufacturing facility in Duncan, SC, to produce its complete line of pharmaceutical container materials and delivery systems.
Ampac Packaging, LLC acquired Flexicon, Inc., makers of flexible packaging materials for pharmaceutical, medical, and healthcare markets. Ampac also produces film structures.
Honeywell's Sandra Luciano was selected to serve as chairman of the Healthcare Compliance Packaging Council's Board of Directors for the 2005-2006 term. The new board convened for the first time Jan. 11 and will meet every other month for the remainder of the year at various venues.
Joan Cavanagh, a pharmaceutical industry consultant and professor at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, will serve as leader for the Pharmaceutical Marketing Training Institute's course "Market Research Fundamentals for the Pharmaceutical Industry," March 28-29 in Chicago. For more information, call 866/647-0921.
Gail Becke has joined PliantCorp. as technical director, personal care/medical.
Five benefits of molded pulp for medical devices
• Works for irradiation and ethylene oxide gas sterilization
• Provides economical protection against shipping damage
• Contours to fit many products and can be made into nearly any configuration or shape
• Consumes less space in trucks for shipment
• Thermoformable to a high-quality appearance
Source: International Molded Pulp Environmental Packaging Assn.
