All articles by Blatha
Blatha
The changing face of oral medicines
For the delivery of vaccines and allergens, the buccal and sublingual routes have been extensively investigated. Consequently, good knowledge of the immune cells distributed within the oral mucosal tissue has become increasingly important. World Pharmaceutical Frontiers highlights the current status of this drug delivery method, and explores the possibilities and limitations with regard to quality, safety and efficacy issues.
Name and number
Soon, every piece of medical equipment around the globe will be required to be marked with a unique device identifier that will enable the unambiguous verification of hardware throughout the supply chain. Kerry Taylor-Smith discusses what this will mean for the industry with Johnson & Johnson’s Mike Rose, Tom Jones, and Dennis Hahn.
Excellence in cargo transport
Air cargo stakeholders are working hard to build the pharmaceutical industry’s confidence in its capacity to transport temperature-sensitive products. The International Air Transport Association’s Andrea Gruber discusses what progress has been made with Elly Earls.
Using chemicals to crack down on counterfeit drugs
Michael Völlinger, programme manager and business process owner at Grünenthal for its global serialisation track and trace programme, explains to Andrew Putwain how the chemical detection of counterfeit drugs could be the missing link in serialisation, and how track and trace and the chemical testing of suspect counterfeit drugs is the best option.
Time to embrace a new production process
Moving from batch to novel production is no easy task. The same goes for building bridges between manufacturing processes, as well as the role and process of analytical technology. Continuous manufacturing could be the solution, but many pharmaceutical experts have met this notion with resistance. Salvatore Mascia, founder and CEO of CONTINUUS Pharmaceuticals, explains how this method can increase quality assurance and efficiency.
All systems are go
In 2019, the European Union will implement a pharmaceutical verification system mandated by the Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD); a law passed by the European Commission five years ago. The system aims to reduce the quantity of counterfeit drugs entering legitimate supply chains by attaching anti-tamper proof devices and 2D barcodes to each medicine pack. These barcodes contain pack-specific information that is entered into databases that allow products to be monitored from manufacturer to user. Greg Noone talks to Martin Sawer and Jerome Bertin about what the new directive means for drug manufacturers, wholesalers and pharmacies.
Embracing injectables and wearables
The use of injectable biologic therapies and wearables is rising. These drugs, however, present several challenges for manufacturers and patients; the large size of the molecules means that administration is not as straightforward, and an effective dose may be highly viscous. Abi Millar asks Dr Olivia Merkel, professor of drug delivery at the Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich, how the industry is addressing these problems.
Cold chain challenge
Philippe François, global head of supply chain management at Novartis, discusses budget allocation and temperature-maintenance visibility for the distribution process with Kerry Taylor-Smith. He focuses on preventing temperature deviation in packaging; reducing the time that is taken on quality validation with real-time monitoring; and developing alternatives such as thermo blankets.
Through wind, snow and heat
Ambient temperature is a broad term when it comes to transporting medical products. It varies among countries and storage facilities, with particular requirements for different medicines. Savvas Koulouridas, general manager at Fagron Hellas, speaks to Bradford Keen about using passive and active packaging solutions to maintain cost-effectiveness, as well as creating a new approach to supply chain management.