Clariant, a world leader in Specialty Chemicals, and its Healthcare Packaging business unit, is introducing a new brand name to encompass all of the products and technology related to equilibrium relative humidity stabilisation. The announcement was made at Pharmapack Europe 2018.
The new brand – EQius – will be used as an umbrella brand for products currently marketed as EQ-Pak® packets, EQ-Can® canisters, EQ-Stopper™ closures, and EQ-Bag™ bags, along with the raw material that goes in them. The different forms make it possible to customise humidity control throughout the drug-product development cycle, from bulk ingredients to finished pharmaceuticals.
“When Clariant first introduced the ‘EQ’ concept, we offered only two forms – packets and canisters,” recalls Elisa Le Floch, Pharm.D., Clariant Healthcare Packaging, Business Development Manager. “Since then, we have doubled the size of our portfolio of humidity-control packaging solutions and now make them available all over the world.”
The EQius products are made using specially engineered sorbents that can act as humectants (desorbers) and desiccants (adsorbers) simultaneously, maintaining a particular equilibrium relative humidity inside product packaging. This line of standard equilibrium-stabilizer products can maintain ERH levels of 10%, 20%, or 30% to help protect finished drug products in bottles or tubes, or to help protect bulk ingredients (powders, capsules) in boxes or bags before, during, or after tableting or filling operations.
“While hydrolytic degradation of drugs can be addressed by removing substantially all humidity entering the packaging using a desiccant,” Le Floch explains. “Specific drug properties may require that a specific range of humidity be maintain throughout the shelf life of a drug product or ingredient.” Typical examples include micronized drug powders used in inhalers or gelatin capsules. In these and other applications both too much humidity and too little can cause unacceptable damage.
The existing Clariant humidity-equilibrium products themselves will not change. Once fully in place, the EQius brandname – which will be clearly printed on each unit --can be expected to make things simpler for customers. This new single and strong brand will likely offer increased protection against counterfeiting.
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