Best Parenteral Packaging Practices: Choosing Glass or Polymer

Any product administered intravenously or by injection is called parenteral product.

Since parenteral product are directly administered into the blood stream, any potential contamination can be life threatening. It’s therefore crucial that you pick the right packaging material for safe packaging of your parenteral products.

When selecting a parenteral packaging material, drug manufacturers have two options to choose from: they can either choose a glass packaging or a plastic polymer packaging.

Which packaging material should you choose?

Quite frankly, there isn’t any one single answer to this question; both glass and polymer possess their own advantages.

To make the right selection, consider the following:

Your product’s needs

What drug will be stored in the parenteral container?

Different drug products have different chemical properties and therefore different requirements.

For example, the anticoagulant Heparin has been stored in glass containers for decades and there haven’t been any reported cases of major recalls or contamination. This makes glass an easy choice for packaging anticoagulant Heparin and other similar drugs.

Compare that to dermal fillers. These drugs have high viscosity and they need to be stored in a container that allows for easy gliding and consistent gliding force. Since polymer packaging offers all these characteristics, they are the material of choice for packaging dermal fillers.

The bottom line is, you need to understand your drug’s needs and then select a packaging material accordingly.

Your process requirements

All drug manufacturers operate with the principle to limit product waste. So eliminating potential container defects and using low-waste filling lines,is a priority process consideration for all drug manufacturers.

Glass carries the advantage of easy integration with most existing filling lines; however, container defects are also more common to glass. Polymer on the other hand carries less container defects, but manufacturers may have to tweak their existing filling lines to process polymer packaged drugs.

In short, it all comes down to what your priorities are and whether you want to invest in system modifications.

Your end customer’s comfort and needs

With drug delivery becoming an increased norm in home settings, your end customers are more likely to be patients than nurses and doctors. As such, you must choose a container that is functional and easy to use.

Glass provides the lowest risk of drug interaction and highest packaging stability. However, glass is also susceptible to breakage. Polymers can be considered safer in terms of handling, but you may have to compromise on the stability of the contained drug. Having said that, polymer packaging has recently improved in this area.

Choosing glass or polymer for parenteral packaging isn’t an easy choice or a quick decision to make. You’ve to assess your drug’s chemical properties, your process requirements and your customer’s comfort and needs to make the right choice.

If you’re looking for a glass or polymer packaging supplier for your pharma packaging needs, we can help you. We manufacture and supply high quality glass and polymer packaging containers worldwide. Contact us today, to discuss your packaging needs.