Blister packing technology was first applied to pharmaceutical in the late 1950s by pioneering German firm Hoefliger and Karg. Foil-sealed individual pockets used method of packaging in Europe’s pharmaceutical industry. In the US, blisters are the most widely used packaging system for over-the counter medicines and their use in prescription medicines is rapidly taking prominence over bottled packages.
The rise of the blister pack doesn’t stop in the western world, where they have been taking prevalence over bottles for decades. But why is the technique so rapidly becoming the universal standard for drug packaging technology?
The advantage of blister packaging
A major advantage of blister packaging is that is puts the consumer in control of the medication process. Blister packs increase patient compliance and ensure that patients take the right dosage. Consumers can see exactly how much they have consumed and are in immediate control. It is much harder to keep track of the number of pills or capsules consumed from a bottle.
The use of blister packs has been proven to increase the efficacy of a course of medication. One US trial gave half of a group of 88 elderly patients suffering from high blood pressure licinopril dispensed in blister packs, with the other half of the group medicating themselves with the same dosage of the angiotensin a bottle formulation. While a lower blood pressure was recorded for nearly half of the 44 patients who took pills from the blister packs, only 20 per cent of the other patient group experienced lower blood pressure.
The reason for this enhanced performance is that blisters enable patients to dispense exactly the right amount of what is needed, at het right time. This is major safety and efficacy issue in a plethora of product classes, from cardiovascular drugs to contraceptives to antidepressants. It is much harder to monitor the dosage dispensed from a bottle or a vial.
Blister packs also increase product protection by pacing oils in single unit doses. Once one blister cavity has been opened, the neighboring cavity is still protected. From air and moisture that can affect drug behavior. Blister packs can easily be made child-resistant by using stronger adhesives to make the covering foil harder to tear off.
Blister packs also offer pharmaceutical companies more marking space. Additional product information can easily be added between the blister pack and its surrounding carton. Consumers are requiring more information than ever about their products. A company might choose to include information about the advantages of a newly patented drug inside packets of a similar off-patent treatment.
The above information is abstracts from the PharmaTechnology
9-8-2013
