Daikyo Crystal Zenith

The need to provide vaccines for the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has presented the pharmaceutical industry with unprecedented challenges. Among them are accelerated timelines for development/approval and unanticipated volumes for manufacture/delivery. Ordinarily for a new drug product, there is ample time for selecting the primary package system and establishing component availability.

Considering the world of commercial transparent polymers, Daikyo Crystal Zenith® cyclic olefin polymer (COP) clearly stands out – having very good resistance to oxygen/water and compatibility with drug product (it comprises only carbon and hydrogen). Other transparent polymers may suffer limitations, in one or more ways. For example, poly(vinylidene chloride) has outstanding resistance to oxygen/water, but lacks compatibility; sterilization can result in release of HCl. For parenteral drug products, polymer-based containment/delivery systems have many advantages compared to glass.

Exposure to light is a concern with numerous medications due to the potential for photodegradation or other chemical reactions during manufacturing, storage, and administration⁽¹⁾. This may result in potency loss, altered efficacy and adverse biological effects. The sensitivity of a drug to a distinct spectral region of light may vary with its chemical structure, photoreactivity, and nature of the dosage form. The photochemical behavior of a drug provides guidance for handling, packaging, and labeling of drug products. The use of the appropriate containers and packaging material can protect the products from the deleterious effects of light.

Recently, there has been discussion in the industry regarding the utility of polymer-based vial containment systems for the storage and transport of gene therapy drug products, which can be performed as low as -80^oC. Since it is known that all polymers are gas permeable, discussion has centered on whether polymer-based systems can sufficiently restrict ingress of oxygen (during refrigerated storage) and carbon dioxide (during transport on dry ice).

The manufacture of polymer containers for parenteral drug products differs from that of glass and elastomers and must combine the common manufacturing methods below to meet the needs of the pharmaceutical market.

The global injectable drug market sees an ever-increasing adoption of high-value biologic drug products. More than half of today’s 20 top selling injectables are biologics, and many of them are delivered in a prefilled syringe. Even though glass syringes are predominantly used for primary containment of parenterals, the (bio)pharmaceutical industry continues to cope with certain limitations associated with glass prefilled systems.