The package, a unique carded wallet, is manufactured by Nosco for Watson Laboratories. The pack functions with a removable key card that must be inserted into a lock in order to access the blisters within.
The keyed feature earned the package an F-1 rating, the highest level of child-resistance attainable within the testing protocol outlined by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The package is also senior-friendly, permitting them the option of leaving the key in place to maintain an unlocked status for households without children, while making it easy to access for dexterity-limited elderly patients.
For those families with children, the key can be taken out of the package and stored elsewhere, rendering the medication inaccessible to little hands. Once the package has been unlocked and opened, Nosco's Glipizide Key.In incorporates an ornately patterned black-and-white image, marketed as "distract," which covers the entire perforated area beneath the blister cavities to disguise the push-through capability of the paperboard, providing another layer of protection against accidental access by children.
The annual Compliance Package of the Year competition consists of two categories: one for trade packages and the other for innovative designs not yet used commercially. Additional winners included First Runner Up: Champix Starting Therapy by Pfizer; Second Runner Up: Effexor XR flow wrap package by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals; and Innovative Design: NextBottle by One World Design and Manufacturing Group.
