Organizations today are far more vulnerable to cyber threats due to the digital information and technology that are so heavily integrated into the daily workplace. The attacks themselves, which target both information and critical infrastructure, are becoming far more sophisticated.

Advanced therapies are rapidly becoming a reality, targeting unmet patient needs and treatments for diseases with limited therapeutic options. Some advanced therapies, such as gene therapy and mRNA, require frozen storage due to their fragile nature at ambient temperature, putting unprecedented expectations on the vial-stopper-seal combination to maintain container closure integrity (CCI) during storage at low temperature conditions. The quality, patient safety, and high value of these therapeutics can be jeopardized if the chosen vial-stopper-seal combination doesn’t maintain a sterile barrier from when the drug is packaged through to administration to the patient. During cooling from ambient temperature to temperatures below -80°C, packaging components such as glass vials, elastomeric closures, and aluminum seals exhibit contraction and changes in physico-mechanical properties. These changes in material properties and component dimensions may affect their ability to maintain CCI, resulting in the formation of transient leaks.

The idea of establishing a rubber manufacturing company was born during a visit by the purchasing manager of the penicillin factory, Chemie Grunenthal in Stolberg. He asked whether I could produce rubber stoppers for penicillin bottles. I did some research and realized rubber stoppers were needed for lots of different types of medicine and there wasn’t currently a company specializing in this field.