Catalent and Compass boost blister capacity

New Jersey, US-based contractors Catalent Pharma Solutions and Compass Pharma Services expanded their respective blister pack offerings last week, both citing growing drug industry demand.

Catalent hope to streamline trial supply chain

Catalent said that the installation and validation of a Zed in-line blister card sealer at its facility in Philadelphia is “beneficial for both small and high-volume clinical trial packaging.”

The firm also highlighted the unit’s filling capacity that allows eight different blister strips to be processed simultaneously, which it said is ideal for the complex card designs tahat are increasingly being used in clinical trials.

Frank Lis, VP of the Catalent’s Clinical Supply Services Unit, said that that investment recognises customer “needs for new strategies to streamline supply chain management.”

January has been a busy month for Catalent's trial packaging Operations with the latest expansion following hot on the heels of the addition of a Harro Hofiger Omindose filling unit its its facility in North Carolina.

Compass set on blister growth

In contrast, Compass’ expansion is more geared towards commercial scale production.The firm added an Uhlmann thermoformer UPS4 unit at its plant in Clifton.

COO Tony Fenno explained that demand for unit dose packaging continues to grow among Compass’ customers in both the pharmaceutical and nutritional supplements sectors and that the investment “was necessary to keep pace.”

Fenno added that the new machine “supports Compass’ business strategy of providing contract pharmaceutical packaging services with the same quality and consisyency of in-house production.”