West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc., a global leader in innovative solutions for injectable drug administration, has released its 4040 LyoTec® Westar® Select Ready-to-Sterilize (RS) and Ready-to-Use (RU) Lyophilization Stoppers, the first components of a portfolio of vial closures to be developed using West’s new state-of-the art elastomer formulation, 4040/40 gray.  By combining the demonstrated success of an established design and significant levels of expertise in testing and raw material selection, we have achieved improvements and optimized benefits across the spectrum of packaging attributes required for performance, quality, and safety of the packaging and delivery of lyophilized drug products.

Nurturing a culture of philanthropy and community involvement is one of the defining characteristics of West. Team members around the world take their responsibility to give back very seriously, donating considerable time and resources to help create a healthier world. West without Borders, our team member-led giving programme, has raised millions of dollars since its inception in 2004 and the initiatives in Ireland were recently recognised at the Pharma Industry Awards for Corporate Social Responsibility Programme of the Year. 

NovaPure® Components Overview
By leveraging nearly 100 years of pharmaceutical packaging knowledge and implementing Quality by Design principles, West has developed the continuously improving NovaPure® elastomer portfolio which can be ideal for all drug product phases.

The presence of particulate matter (PM) in parenteral drug products is a well-known challenge for pharmaceutical companies due to the potential quality and safety risks involved. In biotherapeutics, critical attributes related to efficacy, potency, clinical safety, and immunogenicity can be affected by PM.^1-3 
PM is defined as extraneous mobile undissolved particles (excluding gas bubbles) that are unintentionally present in solutions.⁴
Several USP chapters describe the measurement of PM, namely:

General chapter USP <382> Elastomeric Component Functional Suitability in Parenteral Product Packaging/Delivery Systems is slated to become official on December 1, 2025. This allows five years from the date of publication in December of 2020 for stakeholders to implement the new testing requirements for full compliance.  While that date seems to be far off in the future, there has been interest in early adoption of the new chapter and implementation of the various tests it requires.  

United States Pharmacopeia (USP) requirements for elastomeric components of container closure systems used for parenteral products are changing. The original USP chapter for elastomeric components used in injectable drug packaging was <381> Elastomeric Components in Injectable Pharmaceutical Production Packaging/Delivery Systems. This addressed characterizing for biological reactivity, physicochemical testing and functionality testing and compliance was typically a supplier responsibility. The new chapter, USP <382> Elastomeric Component Functional Suitability in Parenteral Product Packaging/Delivery Systems, will become effective on December 1, 2025. This will update the functionality tests for elastomers, whereas the functionality testing portion of USP <381> will be omitted. Under the new chapter, it will be the drug manufacturer’s responsibility to meet the functionality requirements on the final system.