Considerations For Selecting Blister Packaging Materials For Pharmaceutical Products

When selecting blister packaging materials for pharmaceutical products, there are several considerations to keep in mind when choosing the forming and sealing materials. The materials used depend if the product needs protected from light, heat and moisture, which will affect the product’s shelf life and storage conditions.

Forming Materials
The forming film is the packaging component that receives the product in deep drawn pockets. Plastic forming films such as polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) can be thermoformed, but support materials containing aluminum are cold formed. The forming film and lidding material are an integrated package and must match one another precisely.

The forming film is usually colorless and transparent. However if the manufacturer wishes to make a childproof package, or if the drug must be protected from light, then forming films can also be opaque.

Sealing Materials
After the tablets or capsules have been properly fed to the preformed support materials the lidding material is sealed onto the support material. Temperatures for this can range from 140-300°C. There are two sealing techniques: intermittent sealing with sealing plates and continuous sealing with sealing rollers. Intermittent sealing machines are operated at lower sealing temperatures than are continuous sealing machines. Intermittent sealing machines also have a longer sealing time.