Look for the ongoing implementation of track-and-trace technologies and the impending European falsified medicines directive to be key subjects at Pharmapack Europe Feb. 10-11 at Paris Expo Porte De Versailles.
Experts will discuss the implications of the pan-European authentication scheme, its impact on contract manufacturers, OEMs and pharma companies during the Symposium on Feb. 10. These experts include Craig Stobie, Global Life Sciences Team, Domino; Romulo Leon, Head of Global Sales, Mettler Toledo PCE; Michel Bullen, Track & Trace Solution Manager, Optel Vision; Rick Seibert,Sr. Vice President, Innovation and Technology Services, Sharp Packaging Solutions, and Michael Gaub, T&T Integration expert at Pester.
Pharmapack Europe will also report on European standard EN 16679, which recently took effect and provides guidance for the application, use and checking of tamper verification features to the packaging of medicinal products. By 2018, all prescription medicine will be required to include a tamper verification feature (TVF).
A press release promoting the event notes, “Pharma is now at a crossroads and manufacturers across Europe have to decide which TVF to choose before the looming deadline.”
Additional topics to be addressed include the following:
• Combination products. With the integration of human factors engineering (HFE), design for manufacturing (DFM) and design for assembly (DFA) seen as the foundations for the development of this product class. The emergence of smaller and smarter combination products will speed-up time to market by examining the manufacturing scale-up strategy, concurrent with the development process.
• Patient adherence. Technologies and packaging that can improve patient adherence will remain a key growth area, and the event will examine patient-friendly packs and how new innovations alongside social media are helping drive crucial competitive advantages.
In oral solids, the discussion for the last 30-plus years has been across rigid versus flexible solutions, essentially bottles vs blisters. But in 2016, companies will be seeking better packaging options for pharmaceutical doses.
The drive for packaging to communicate with patient and healthcare professionals is growing rapidly—whether driven by regulatory agencies (serialization and traceability) or consumer groups.
• Personalized medicine. Pharmapack Europe says, “The next hotbed of potential innovations is set to be flexible packaging for variable dosage forms, in line with the rise in personalized medicine. Ultimately, we may see packaging that has the scope to communicate, or be involved more directly, in the relationship between consumer and physician.
“But who will be the industry trailblazers, and can disruptive players like Apple and Google help to build new eco-systems that revolutionize this status quo?”
• Outsourcing. Perhaps most significantly, says the press release, “Outsourcing is continuing to accelerate in the age of the post-blockbuster world, with many new prototypes and innovations now emerging rapidly from the contract services sector itself. This has huge implications not only in terms of regulation challenges and changes, but also in terms of skills migration from pharma into the supply chain.”
Trends-focused sessions at Pharmapack 2016 conference include:
• European Standard EN 16679:2015 “Tamper verification features for medicinal product packaging.” Dieter Mößner Technical Services, Carl Edelmann GmbH
• “Beyond glass: combining glass and plastic materials in parenteral containers to meet current and next-generation pharmaceutical packaging needs.” Holger Krenz Senior Applications Scientist, SiO2 Medical Products
• “General trends for medical devices and combination products development.” Lionel Jeannin Device & Packaging Development Novartis Pharma AG
• “Regulatory implications of the draft regulation on medical devices for drug delivery systems.” Fabien Roy Partner, Hogan Lovells International LLP
• “Integrated development and scale-up of combination products.” Bill Welch Chief Technology Officer and Vice President Engineering, Phillips-Medisize Corp.
• “Global macro trends and the importance of design for emerging markets.” Lisa Maree Baker, Senior Human Factors Researcher, DCA Design International
• “Improving patient adherence to self-injected therapies.” Chris Evans Vice President, Research & Innovation, West Pharmaceutical Services
The conference will conclude with a Roundtable on “emerging technologies and innovation forecast.”
Click the headline links for previous Pharmapack Europe coverage in Healthcare Packaging.
