Gerresheimer receives the WorldStar for innovative pharma closures
New standards for safety and economy
Nomination for the President’s Award
For a highly innovative pharma closure system under the Duma trademark, Gerresheimer after receiving the 2007 German Packaging Award now also receives the internationally coveted WorldStar.
Through this award the World Packaging Organisation (WPO) crowns a groundbreaking new product concept for the large market of tablet
containers. Through a fundamentally new production
concept, this has succeeded in substantially increasing the
safety and economy of moisture-absorbing desiccant closures
and thereby also made them easier to use for the
pharmaceutics industry – according to the jury’s statement of
the reasons for its decision at the end of October in Athens.
Among the WorldStar award winners, the Gerresheimer
innovation was furthermore nominated for the President’s
Award – the highest distinction in the industry around the
world.
The principle of desiccant closures is not new. Capsules filled with desiccants (drying agents) have for decades been integrated in the lid of high-quality tablet containers in order to protect sensitive medicines against moisture from the air. Completely new standards have now been set by Gerresheimer however with a production
concept whereby such closures are created in a single location as
totally homogenous systems: the Group is the first manufacturer in
the world to produce the multifunctional closures in an
interconnected process chain.
“In the past the general practice was to outsource the desiccant
capsules and integrate them in the pre-manufactured caps only at a
later stage,” explains Burkhard Lingenberg, Director of Marketing
und Communication for the Gerresheimer Group: “This led not only
to additional transportation but also for example to more complex
registration procedures for the pharma industry”. This is because, for safety reasons, the law requires that all drug-packaging components.
The innovation was developed in Gerresheimer’s Danish competence
centre in Vaerlose, which specialises in pharmaceutical plastic
packaging and has ranked among the European market leaders in
this field for a considerable time. For the new system closures the
company operates its own local clean-room production with fully
automated control and checking systems. Customers can now also
choose between two patient-oriented versions, both of which are
furthermore tamper-evident: in addition to the ‘Duma Twist-Off
cap, the range also includes a snap-action cap in the new category,
the ‘Duma Handy-Cap’.
Just in September Gerresheimer was honoured for the futureoriented
development by the German Packaging Award for which
the German Packaging Institute annually invites applicants
from across Europe. Success in this strictly regulated competition is in itself regarded as an authoritative recommendation throughout the world.
As the sole German industry organisation this prestigious
institute also has a seat and a vote in the global contest for the
WorldStar award. Competition winners from a total of thirty-two
countries stood for this year’s world cup. The official award
ceremony will take place on 20 May 2008 at a gala event to be held
by the World Packaging Organisation in the Ghanaian capital Accra.
Until then it remains to be seen whether the elite distinction for
Gerresheimer may possibly be ennobled even further.
That the internationally composed WorldStar jury attaches outstanding
significance to the innovative closures is shown by a nomination for
the additional President’s Award of the WPO. As candidates for this
super trophy only six of the twenty-five WorldStar award winners in
2007 have been nominated.