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+--- Thread: WHY DO PHARMACEUTICALS NEED ALUMINIUM PACKAGING? (/Thread-WHY-DO-PHARMACEUTICALS-NEED-ALUMINIUM-PACKAGING)
WHY DO PHARMACEUTICALS NEED ALUMINIUM PACKAGING? - hmwadeseo - 08-10-2023
The medical industry is a crucial one and can be a risky venture. The reason is the kind of products and services it provides to the patients. The pharmaceutical side of the industry is the most active industry and has an availability of vast markets both in the Eastern and Western world. With regulatory bodies controlling the products and keeping them safe for users, pharmaceutical products need to be free of defects.
In general, the “defect” shows up in pharmaceutical products as contaminants, short shelf life, spoiled goods, tampered packaging etc. A packaging defect, however, is the biggest concern. Because packaging of pharmaceutical products has to be efficient enough to keep the medicines away from any contact with environmental factors and human touch. Since most pharmaceutical products are volatile or effervescent to environmental factors like heat, moisture and microorganisms, they need A-grade containment.
Aluminium vs. Other Materials
In earlier days, there has been a lot of use of paper in the packaging of medicines and pills. But the permeable characteristic of paper makes it a worse containment material than common PVC. Blister packs have long been lidded using paper and polymer layers but even with the PVC layer, the material fails to increase shelf-life or keep moisture from seeping in. Also, paper and PVC have a higher stretching point which makes it difficult to remove the pill, crushing it in the process. This, in the case of capsules, is a bad choice, given its weak structure. So, when it comes to containment, metallic foils for blisters can always be relied on. And since steel cannot be used with materials that are ingestible, only aluminium passes as a non-reactive metal for pharmaceutical packaging.
RE: WHY DO PHARMACEUTICALS NEED ALUMINIUM PACKAGING? - askaluadmin - 08-10-2023
Every pharmaceutical product out there has an Active pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) which is the most unstable when exposed to environmental factors. A packaging material must ensure that this ingredient remains stable until it is consumed by the user.
The stability of an API can be disbalanced with environmental factors like thermal spoil, oxidization, UV rays, microorganic infection and moisture ingress. In a lot of pharmaceutical tablets and capsules, there is an additional layer of ingestible coating that keeps moisture away from the core of the drug. There are several areas where a drug is fit for use even after getting in contact with moisture. There are painkillers used by dissolving in a cup of water.
But in addition to the features added to the pills, the pharmaceutical products need special protection and containment. More so when the active ingredient is highly unstable, which is the case with most high dose medications used for diseases like diabetes, cancer, and gastro-intestinal issues. So, when a medicine that is unstable to hydrolysis (getting altered by moisture), light, and any environmental change needs a 360° barrier against the slightest of moisture permeability, light and temperature changes. This is where a drug needs an aluminum layer in both base and lid, as it leads to containment and stability until the product lands in the hands of its end user.
The level of insulation a drug needs from the destabilizing factors can only be known with a tough stability test done with different blister sealing methods, machines and environments to match the humid and sunny conditions in economies like India, China, and Latin countries. So, if you’re supplying regular medication for seasonal illnesses, alu-alu packing might be a lot of work.