Ceepackaging

Events

Focussing on syringes and inhalers

Internationally, Gerresheimer is one of the top addresses for primary
packaging and tailor-made delivery forms for medications. Across
the board in the fields of glass and plastic and from vials through
cartridges to complex delivery systems, extraordinarily varied knowhow
is concentrated in the globally operating Group – with a total
of 37 American, European and Asian production plants now, it has a
highly developed network. In America this extends today from the
USA through Mexico and on to Argentina, where Gerresheimer
acquired a new production location just a few days before the start
of the trade fair through the acquisition of the Spanish PET specialist
EDP hat. Regional expansion steps and consistent expansion of the
product portfolio make the Group more attractive than ever as a
partner: “We are an integral part of the pharma and life-science
world,” says Burkhard Lingenberg, Gerresheimer’s Director of
Marketing and Communication: “With a globally oriented range
which offers the market many synergy benefits, we can contribute
very effectively to development and refinement.”
An impressive example of this is the highly-specialised segment of
ready-to-fill syringes. Completely siliconised, pre-assembled and
sterilised, such systems can of course be filled immediately on delivery and therefore obviate the whole range of elaborate preparation processes in pharmaceutical manufacturing operations.
Gerresheimer is enjoys a reputation as a technology leader in this
field, and demand is rising dramatically. In early 2007, RTF® production
was again more than doubled by the Group, and the next
planned expansion has already been brought forward. This will
massively increase capacity at the start of next year. Today already
Gerresheimer already sells substantially more ready-to-fill RTF® glass
systems than traditional bulk-ware syringes.
With intelligent technical application accessories, Gerresheimer has
also succeeded in making syringe handling easier and above all safer
– an overwhelmingly positive market response confirms this. Originally
developed for the RTF® range, the Rigid Needle Shield (RNS) is
now also proving to be an international bestseller in other syringe
categories as well, with steadily growing popularity in and outside
the pharmaceutical industry. In recent market studies this internally
soft and externally impenetrable needle-protection system emerged
with top ratings, as did the Tamper Evident Luerlock Closure (TELC),
which combines the tamper-evident closure and the needle adapter
in a single component.
In the congress exhibition Gerresheimer is displaying a cross-section
of the expanded and multi-facetted product range for injections,
starting with RTF® all-glass syringes in the widest conceivable variety.
Invisible to the eye but right up to the minute are surface treatments
such as baked-on siliconisation, through which the Group
offers an increasingly demanded option, particularly for sensitive
biological injection materials such as proteins, peptides and vaccination
substances.
Inhalation is another field on which attention focuses more than
ever before, and which is particularly important for Gerresheimer.
Respiratory disease is increasing throughout the world. Depending
on the type and gravity, pulmonary introduction of medications
imposes widely differing demands on the drug-delivery system. This
is one of the fields in which Gerresheimer is engaged in individual
project business: visitors to the exhibition stand will see the latest
examples of high-calibre inhalation appliances developed by
Gerresheimer on behalf of customers. The spectrum of these
complex plastic systems ranges from powder and capsule inhalers to
nebulisers and rhinological spray systems, and covers all the relevant
categories.