Presto, Bemis Launch New Drug Package Format

Published: February 03, 2016

APPLETON, WI | A new packaging format will provide drug manufacturers with a novel variation on the traditional blister pack that offers new functionality and new possibilities for retailers. Resulting from a collaboration between Presto Products Co. and Bemis Healthcare Packaging, this new format features a flexible pouch instead of the customary paperboard carton used as secondary packaging for blister packs.

The pouch, converted by Bemis and fitted with Presto’s CHILD-GUARD child-resistant slider closure, enables drug manufacturers to incorporate child resistance and high barrier into the secondary package. This allows the primary blister package to utilize relatively low cost, non-barrier materials without the added cost of child resistance at the tablet level. Unlike the carton, the child resistant pouch offers ongoing value to protect pills stored in medicine cabinets or tucked into a purse or pocket.

Combined, the proven technology behind CHILD-GUARD and strength properties of the pouch deliver the complete child-resistant package. The CHILD-GUARD slider, the first of its kind, is extremely difficult for a child to open while concurrently being intuitive and easy to open for seniors. This is in contrast to many child-resistant options on primary blister packs, which are typically difficult for seniors to open. Meanwhile, the pouch is constructed from aluminum foil-based laminated film, providing excellent moisture and oxygen barrier properties.

“This packaging format flips the value proposition for secondary packaging of blister packs on its head,” says Georgia Mohr, director of pharmaceutical packaging at Bemis Healthcare Packaging. “The traditional secondary blister package, which is a carton, does not have barrier or child resistance. With a reclosable, child-resistant pouch capable of high-level barrier properties, there are new possibilities for differentiation, both in the pharmacies as well as on retail shelves.”

For over-the-counter products, the new packaging type can set itself apart. “There is no other product like it on the market,” says Brad Hansen, president of Presto Specialty Group, Reynolds Presto Products Company. “Today, each blister pack seen on a store shelf has the same basic carton over it.” The new pouch can also be converted with a peg hole for alternative merchandising options.

“This format certainly provides an opportunity to present a package differently on the shelf while still having the possibility to use conventional shelving approaches,” continues Mohr. The billboard for printing a pouch offers the ability to incorporate additional content and facilitate new branding approaches.

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