Schott North America, a provider of specialty glass and glass ceramics for the pharmaceutical industry, has set up a ready-to-use center of excellence at its Lebanon, Pennyslvania. production facility.

The new center is in response to increased demand for specialty drugs overall and the self-administered drug market specifically, which the company says is expected to double in the next five years. It is also driven by demand in RTU packaging as it promotes particle-free drug filling and allows for filling different container formats on the same filling line, making even the processing of smaller batch sizes cost-effective, according to the company.

Schott’s Lebanon manufacturing plant will become a hub where experts from Schott and its partners can develop solutions to exploit the full potential of sterile packaging concepts. Plus, the plant's manufacturing capacity ensures the security of supply of RTU vials and other pharma packaging.

Schott, which manufactures approximately 10 billion packaging products each year, demonstrated its manufacturing capability and commitment to RTU solutions by highlighting its adaptiQ system for RTU vials at a recent evnet. adaptiQ® vials come sterile in a nest and tub configuration. The nest securely holds up to 100 sterile vials, which can be loaded onto production lines without the manufacturer having to perform pre-treatment steps such as washing, drying, or sterilization. The system also reduces scratches from vial-to-vial and vial-to-machine contact during the entire process, including lyophilization. Finally, adaptiQ has been designed in line with industry standards so vials can be filled on production lines normally used for syringes, with only short change-over times.

Source: Schott