Bilcare Research Inc., one of the world’s largest manufacturers of blister packaging solutions, has introduced FastPack, an expedient process for determining the optimum blister film barrier properties for the packaging of pharmaceutical products.

Building on the company’s expertise in drug stabilization, through FDA recommended QbD principles, FastPack was designed to help packaging engineers and formulators of global pharmaceutical companies overcome the time and resource crunch they face when attempting to achieve successful stability studies.

The science behind FastPack was devised from sensitivity profiling conducted on hundreds of pharmaceutical formulations over the past 15 years. When doing so, Bilcare scientists found that the majority of packaging related stability failures can be ascertained by systematically analyzing the product’s physical attributes, as opposed to more stringent, time-consuming chemical testing. The result is a scientifically streamlined process. The company says in 15 business days, FastPack identifies a product’s two most optimal packaging materials in terms of cost and barrier protection. 

According to the company, FastPack yields a greater than 90% certainty of passing a packaging stability study, which, for pharmaceutical manufacturers, this means reduced risk of both FDA approval delays due to insufficient package barrier properties and, conversely, wasteful and costly over-packaging.

FastPack determines a product’s susceptibility to various environmental factors—humidity, temperature, light and oxygen—through scientifically designed experiments. It puts products through a variety of tests, including those measuring hygroscopicity, hardness, friability and photo sensitivity. FastPack also provides a machine tool drawing, a packaging cost analysis with material specifications and testing methods, and samples of recommended packaging materials. In addition, free training and technical support are provided until product commercialization.

“Bilcare’s FastPack is the ideal solution for companies that want to expedite product commercialization and reduce development time and costs associated with packaging needs,” said Ajith Nair, senior vice president of research and quality, Bilcare Research. “Determining a product’s environmental sensitivities can be achieved in only 15 days, a turnaround time that is unsurpassed by any other available process.”