Together with Vetter, an international pharmaceutical service provider for injectables, Syntegon (formerly Bosch Packaging Technology) has won the PDA Drug Delivery Innovation Award. In the “Partnership Innovation” category, the Parental Drug Association (PDA) honors development projects by pharmaceutical and machine manufacturers that advance the production of (bio)pharmaceuticals. The collaboration between Vetter and Syntegon resulted inVersynta microBatch, a highly flexible and fully automated production cell with a gloveless isolator, the smallest possible dimensions and a complete batch-to-batch changeover of less than two hours.
Joint development for the benefit of patients
“There is a stronger focus on patient needs than ever before,” says Vetter Managing Director Thomas Otto. “The continuous progress in our industry towardsgreater patient well-being is a positive development and, at the same time, brings additional challenges for pharmaceutical manufacturers and service providers.Pharmaceutical and biotech companies require highly effective drugs for significantly smaller patient groups. For their service providers, this means creating new concepts for filling and process design while meeting increasing quality requirements. We have worked closely with Syntegon to develop a new industry standard for small-scale filling processes.
“We are also observing a growing demand for highly flexible filling solutions for small batches – and we know that innovations thrive best when many years of experience from different areas are combined,” says Dr. Alexander Giehl, head of the Pharma Liquid & Inspection business cluster at Syntegon. “Our name says it all: the ‘Syn’ in Syntegon stands for synergy. The joint development with Vetter brings improvements for our customers and ultimately for the patients, in line with our mission ‘processing and packaging for a better life’.”
Versynta microBatch: a new concept for very small batches
With Versynta microBatch, Syntegon and Vetter are developing a fully automated, highly flexible production cell designed to fill and close a wide variety of containers. Syringes, cartridges and vials made of glass or plastic can be filled with virtually no product loss. The gloveless isolator with integrated air treatment significantly reduces the risk of contamination from machine operators. Fully automated filling and 100 percent in-process control ensure continuously high quality. The result is an innovative, GMP-compliant system that sets new standards in small batch filling with an output of 120 to 500 containers per hour.
About Syntegon Technology
Syntegon Technology is a leading global process and packaging technology provider. Formerly the packaging division of the Bosch Group, the company, headquartered in Waiblingen (Germany), has been offering complete solutions for the pharmaceutical and food industries for over 50 years. About 6,000 employees at 30 locations in more than 15 countries generated a total revenue of 1.3 billion euros in 2020. The portfolio of intelligent and sustainable technologies includes stand-alone machines, as well as complete systems and services. Fields of application in the pharmaceutical industry are the production, processing, filling, inspection and packaging of liquid and solid pharmaceuticals (e.g. syringes and capsules). In the food industry, the portfolio includes process technology for confectionery as well as packaging solutions for dry foods (e.g. bars, bakery products and coffee), frozen foods and dairy products.
