This hike in moisture protection makes the film particularly suitable for storing drugs that are prone to degrade when in contact with water vapour, such as melt-in-the-mouth medicines.
The moisture barrier in Pentapharm ACLAR 400/02 film comes from the use of two laminated layers, one of PVC and the other 4-mil ACLAR supplied by Honeywell. The result is a barrier that can keep out moisture as efficiently as cold-form foil packaging, but has the advantage of good product visibility.
Market research by the Freedonia Group reveals that regulatory standards and consumer preferences are promoting the increasing use of unit dose, compliance, high barrier and high visibility packaging formats for pharmaceuticals.
Klockner noted that the new film is non-yellowing and can be machined on standard form/fill/seal packaging lines and tooling. The product contact layer is rigid vinyl , so it can be bonded to vinyl-compatible lidstocks, it added.