The Keys To Packaging Transdermal Patches
At Pack EXPO, Todd and Todd interviewed Georgia Mohr, marketing director, pharmaceuticals for Bemis Healthcare Packaging, about the various packaging solutions that exist in the transdermal patch market. Mohr also highlights some of the concerns the pharma industry should be focusing on when it comes to transdermal patch packaging, and argues that the industry will be moving away from solid unit dose to boutique-type drugs in the future.
Interview Transcription:
Todd S: Alright, Todd and Todd, live in Chicago, Life Science Connect Radio's day one coverage from this grand event. Todd, I'm having a good time so far. Amazing, the innovation in this industry.
Todd Y: The innovation – I mean, on top of the knowledge base that's already here, the intellectual capital in this industry is high enough to begin with, and then we're getting flooded already, first thing, first day. Our brains will be full.
Todd S: We wouldn't have it any other way. Let's get to our next guest. Say hello to Georgia Mohr. She's the Marketing Director of Pharmaceuticals with Bemis Healthcare Packaging. Georgia, welcome to the show.
Georgia: Thank you.
Todd S: It's good to have you. Thanks for stopping by and joining us. I appreciate you giving us some time. Before we get into our conversation, Georgia, take a few quick seconds and inform the audience about you and your background.
Georgia: I have been in the flexible packaging arena for 30 years, focusing on pharmaceutical packaging for half of that career. My background is engineering and project management, and I'm delighted to help guide customers through the process of new package selection.
Todd S: Alright, Bemis Healthcare Packaging. Give us the 10,000 foot view. What do you do? How do you serve your market?
Georgia: Bemis Healthcare Packaging, we are a global leader in the healthcare packaging arena, and we focus on providing packaging for pharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostics markets. We specialize in manufacturing, co-extruded films, laminated films, flexible forming films, foil laminations, pouches, bags, thermaform trays – you name it, we pretty much do it for the healthcare packaging market.
Bemis Healthcare Packaging is a division of the Bemis company, and Bemis is a major supplier of packaging that's used by leading food companies, consumer products, and healthcare. We're the largest flexible packaging company in the Americas, and our revenue is about $5 billion. We have locations all over the world.
Todd Y: Pharma is so broad, and there's so many different segments, and they all have different sets of requirements. Is there a segment or a set of segments where you're particularly focused?
Georgia: For this particular show, we have a strong focus on providing foil barrier laminations for the transdermal patch market. That's our focus this year at the show, and along with that, we have some new materials for the market, and we have some new opening features for these types of applications as well.
Todd S: Well shoot, let's get right to it. Thinking about this transdermal market, talk about some of the alternatives you're providing.
Georgia: Well, last week, with Ineo's announcement of the closing of their Barex plant in Ohio, Bemis Healthcare Packaging quickly made an announcement of our availability of alternatives to Barex. We have been focusing for quite some time, anticipating that Barex would not be an option for the pharmaceutical companies.
The materials – we've undergone a lot of product development, and what we have to offer are two new producTodd S: one is a polyester sealant that has demonstrated strong performance with many of the transdermal patches, where tested. But we also have a new product, Perfect Pharm P616.
It has a new sealant that we have trademarked as CXB, and this particular polymer is outstanding with resistance to nicotine, because you have to truly be focused on the drug uptake when you are looking at patches that are against that sealant material. You don't want the drug to be scalped into the sealant, because then it takes away from what is being delivered to the patient.
We've done extensive testing, chemical resistance, drug uptake for these types of applications, so we're very well prepared for some alternatives to the barracks.
Todd Y: What other issues are you addressing? You've mentioned a couple now, making sure that the medication is getting delivered to the individual and not absorbed into the adhesive. What other kind of issues and problems are you solving?
Georgia: Well, some of the problems are just simply having the correct barrier that is needed. Often, you get moisture or oxygen ingress through the seal, when you heat cellopouch. That's really very critical in packaging transdermal patches. Our solutions are also helpful in that case, but I think for the market right now, security and supply is a real key issue.
The polymers that we are using are very readily available in the market, and then we blow the sealant films ourselves and do the lamination, so very secure supply chain for these products. I think that's going to be very, very critical.
Todd S: Yes, you're obviously dedicating a lot of resources here. I imagine, if I heard you clearly just now – are you concerned about supply issues with Barex?
Georgia: Oh, most definitely. With the announcement from Ineos, they have publicly announced that they will close that plant at the end of the first quarter of 2015.
Todd Y: That's a short runway.
Georgia: That's very, very short. Bemis, for years, we've been focusing on bringing alternatives.
Todd Y: How big a deal is it to make that switch, and how are you helping your customers make that cutover with minimized issues?
Georgia: Fortunately, some customers have already looked at alternatives, side by side with Barex, but we're holding tight to Barex. They were waiting for that critical moment, but now that the critical moment has knocked on the door, we're ready to move. We already have foil laminations in our plant in New London, Wisconsin, that are ready to be shipped for evaluation.
In addition, we produce a lot of medical pouches for the medical device industry, so within that pouch plant, we can make three side seal foil pouches that we can send out to pharmaceutical companies, contract manufacturers ASAP, so that they can begin feasibility testing.
That's been very, very helpful. You can only imagine, I already have I don't know how many orders in for pouches.
Todd S: I bet. Georgia, you're exhibiting here at the show. What are you principally showcasing here?
Georgia: We are showcasing our alternatives for transdermal, for Barex packaging, and that would be our Perfect Form product line, of barrier foils. Then along with that, we are showcasing opening features for those particular transdermal patches. It is a unique, laser scored opening feature that we call score one, ideal for the transdermal patch market. You might not have to have your scissors, but you will be able to keep the children out of it, and maybe the adults in it.
Todd S: I have struggled with those packages, so that's a bigger deal than meets the eye, I think. It's a little early in the show, Georgia, to have a good feel for what the folks visiting the booth are asking about, but what do you anticipate the questions to be, and maybe you've heard a few already?
Georgia: Yes. Well, we're anticipating the questions of how much data do you really have, that your product is suitable for our patches, and how quickly can you provide bond strength information, chemical resistance, puncture data?
All the characteristics are going to be important in making a selection, because people need to come out of the gate fairly fast and confident, because the life of Barex is short, and we're going to need to move quickly. I'm thrilled that the Bemis company has been putting together what they needed for us to take something new to the market.
Todd S: I'm going to ask the obvious question. When will all that data be available, or is it available?
Georgia: It's available today.
Todd S: It's available now?
Georgia: It's available now. We have a great deal of data around nicotine resistance as well.
Todd S: Wow. You know, Georgia, I think about PACK EXPO and Pharma EXPO as really just an innovation show and tell. Listening to you in this conversation, clearly Bemis Healthcare Packaging is very innovative. How do you maintain that kind of culture? What do you do? How do you focus on that? What are the things that you have do internally, to continue to foster that innovative environment?
Georgia: Well, I'm glad you asked that question, because I've been with the Bemis company for five years, and what I'm most impressed about is their innovation. We're going through a complete renovation of our Bemis innovation center right now, in Nina, Wisconsin. At that location, we have over a hundred engineers that are dedicated to packaging, not only for healthcare, but for food.
It's wonderful that we have the environment to create, to fail, to come again, because you learn so much when sometimes you take the wrong road, and it's an environment that the Bemis company has always had. We've been around since the mid-1800s, and it's been all around development.
Todd Y: Learning from mistakes is really a big deal.
Georgia: It's a big deal.
Todd Y: Well, here we are, talking about innovation. I'm going to ask – I don't know how much you'll share with us, but what's on the horizon? What kind of innovations are we going to be talking about next year, at Pharma EXPO?
Georgia: Next year at Pharma EXPO, I think you're going to see a lot of development from the Bemis company for alternatives to Aclar films, and to PVC films for blister forming webs. We've already done a great deal of work there. We have more to come. I think you'll see some very, very new products next year, that are more sustainable and cost effective.
Todd S: That's a quick look at Bemis. If I did the math correctly, you've been a keen observer of the healthcare packaging market for about 15 years?
Georgia: Yes, about 15 years.
Todd S: Go up a few more thousand feet. From the 15 years you've observed to where you see the trends in the industry going the next 15 years, what do you think we should be paying attention to?
Georgia: Well, the trends in the next 15 years, I think you'll see that you're going to be moving a lot away from solid unit dose to more boutique-type drugs, pre-filled syringes for specific therapies, more transdermal patches. I think that that's going to be on the horizon, so there's going to be lots of packaging needs for those types of drug delivery methods.
Todd S: It's going to be fun to watch. Georgia, I hate to say it, but we are about out of time. Before we let you go, how can people get in touch with you and learn more about Bemis Healthcare Packaging?
Georgia: Well, I would love for anyone to stop by our booth, here at the show. We are at South 3705, and they can find me on our webpage. There's a direct link to me, and I'll be more than happy to help people out.
Todd S: Alright, South 3705, about 15 miles from here, I understand. Alright, Georgia, Mohr, Marketing Director of Pharmaceuticals with Bemis Healthcare Packaging, Georgia, it was great to have you. Thanks for stopping by and joining us.
Georgia: Thank you.
Todd S: Alright, that wraps this segment. This has been Life Science Connect Radio, Todd and Todd signing off from Chicago, our live coverage. We'll be right back.