Sliding to success

15 May 2009



New design improves dosage compliance


Pharmaceutical packaging can play a major role in improving patient safety and promoting better health. One way to do this is to improve ‘compliance’ – meaning that people take their medicine as and when they should.

Pharmaceutical companies recognise that improving patient compliance is good for their revenue, as well as for patients. Also, governments are increasingly assessing the effectiveness and financial benefits of medication, which makes it all the more important to pharmaceutical companies that patients use their products as intended.

One way to improve compliance is to ensure that the patient information leaflet is conveniently kept with the medicine at all times. A method of doing this is offered by Burgopak’s Pharmaceutical Series of packaging.

Burgopak has developed a set of single and double blister packs incorporating its patented sliding mechanism, that keeps the patient information booklet, blisters and outer carton connected at all times. The “user friendly and portable” packs are said to make retrieving medicine a one-step rather than a three-step process where essential information is always clearly displayed whenever the product is used. The patented mechanism is also a barrier to counterfeiting.

In addition to encouraging compliance by any available means, the pharmaceutical packaging industry has to find the right balance between ‘senior friendly accessibility’ and child resistance. Burgopak says its packaging meets all three criteria – improved compliance, child resistance and senior friendliness.

The company’s child resistant and senior friendly pack has achieved the US Consumer Product Safety Commission’s F=1 standard.

A new partnership with RxPak, a division of the McKesson Corp in the US, will introduce Burgopak’s child resistant pharmaceutical packaging style to the market in 2010. RxPak will be launching automated blister production using a CR version of the Burgopak machine. The F=1 standard Burgopak CR function, provided by the carton, allows flexibility in blister design as non-CR, push-through blisters can be used. The fully automated machine, built by Bosch Sigpack Systems in Switzerland, is designed for high volume pharmaceutical packaging production.

The UK pharmaceutical industry spends an estimated £3.3bn/year on R&D to develop better drugs, and a further £850mn on promoting them. Fulfilling patient compliance is a key imperative, and the blister pack is proving to be a preferred dispensing mechanism for pharmaceutical manufacturers, with a gradual move away from bottles, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Burgopak currently offers single and double blister, and senior friendly designs that can be customised to accommodate most pill, blister or leaflet sizes. The ‘pocket pack’ design has already been used by brands such as Bayer’s Rennie ICE, a new heartburn and indigestion product.

In a one-slide motion, the pack opens to reveal 12 tablets in two separate blisters. It provides a highly portable product for consumers, together with generous space for the Rennie ICE branding. The new packs have been manufactured using the Bosch Sigpack machine, which has been recently unveiled at Brecon Pharmaceuticals in Wales.

Burgopak’s patented ‘slider’ mechanism is used by companies around the world to present a diverse range of products, including mobile phones, SIM cards, electronic devices, cosmetics, confectionery, pharmaceuticals, USB sticks, CDs and DVDs. It not only displays and differentiates products, but is also said to safeguard them from piracy and counterfeiting


Burgopak's 'slider' design has been used for the new Rennie ICE product Burgopak's 'slider' design

Burgopak's 'slider' design Burgopak's 'slider' design


Privacy Policy
We have updated our privacy policy. In the latest update it explains what cookies are and how we use them on our site. To learn more about cookies and their benefits, please view our privacy policy. Please be aware that parts of this site will not function correctly if you disable cookies. By continuing to use this site, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with our privacy policy unless you have disabled them.