Packaging Innovations Weekly Wrap-Stora Enso Unveils Latest Smart Pharma Pack

The intelligent version of the pack, DDSi, incorporates printed circuits which are connected to sensors that detect when a pill is broken out of the blister pack. An alarm sounds until a question is answered by pushing a button on the pack.

16/11/07 Stora Enso’s latest pharmaceutical pack can be upgraded to include patient compliance technology by intelligent pharmaceutical packaging specialist Cypak. The cartonboard Discreet Dose Slider’s lock mechanism has recently gained F1 status for exceptional child safety from the US Code of Federal Regulations.

The intelligent version of the pack, DDSi, incorporates printed circuits which are connected to sensors that detect when a pill is broken out of the blister pack. An alarm sounds until a question is answered by pushing a button on the pack. The technology is likely to be used for clinical trials or for drugs that require high compliance monitoring, Stora Enso says. The pack has printable surfaces for patient guidance and can be produced using existing machinery.

Recently launched subsidiary of The Instone Group, New Ice has received patents for its potato starch-based trays. The biodegradable trays are an improvement on corn-starch products as the potato starch’s high gluten content creates a stronger container, company founder Giles Instone says.

The patents, which have been issued in Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Europe and the US provide New Ice with improved techniques and materials for forming mouldable ecological containers which can hold fresh produce in dry, damp or wet environments.

Instone says additional patents are expected to be granted in 2008. The firm expects the trays to be available to the US market by the first quarter of 2008.

Manufacturing

Spanish company Productos tecnicos y Maquinaria SL has introduced a new labelling machine it says is well suited to small and medium sized wine companies. The LabelFast 800 is a semi-automatic labelling machine for cylindrical and conical products, which prints the front and rear of the label at the same time. It is able to process 800 units per hour and can codify information such as the date and pack number.

SmartSeal and Corvaglia Closures have signed an agreement covering the development, manufacture and sale of the SmartSeal FLEX range of closure. The closure family features an automatically activated valve, which provides spill control and increased user convenience. Corvaglia says the agreement will get the “innovative product to market in a short time without compromise”, and covers activities in Europe and Latin America.