The Change in Preference from Pharma Glass to Plastic

Pharmaceutical packaging has witnessed a significant shift in the market preference – from Pharma Glass to plastics. This is especially true in the injectable devices segment. This change in preference has also led to a recent shift in the product portfolio of a few renowned parenteral packaging supplier companies in order to meet the market demand. There were significant tests carried out in companies’ pilot plant to assess the feasibility of shifting from glass to plastic.

What were some of the factors that influenced the decision to shift to plastic? -

 Some of the main reasons driving the shift include recent advancements made in the drug formulation stage. This has led to an increased drug complexity in addition to quality challenges faced by the use of glass, including delamination, breakage, and even siliconization, among other reasons. Therefore, the problems faced by glass have also proved to be major concerns for pharma players’ injectable drug’s packaging procurement. This is because the supply base is characterized by long term contracts.

Pharma glass

However, it is important to better understand why parenteral packaging is essential. Drugs are usually administered through the intravenous, intra ocular or the intradermal formats are referred to as parenteral drugs. These drugs are different from conventional oral as well as extra dermal drug intake. Parenteral drugs are used to cure disease including cancer, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, as well as other diseases. For these diseases, injectable are highly effective methods of administration. Therefore, Pilot Plants are testing the use of plastic as opposed to glass.

It is imperative to note that parenteral packaging is regarded as among the fastest growing pharmaceutical packaging formats. Therefore, the shift from pharma glass to plastic was not entirely a surprise. Parenteral package has a CAGR of 8-9% from 2014-19. The boost in demand is driven by lifestyle disease, ageing population in addition to increasing health awareness in countries like India and China. -

The Burgeoning Industrial Agitators Market

Industrial agitators have been in demand in this era of rapid industrialization. By 2024, the worldwide industrial agitators market is touted to touch the USD 3.46 billion mark. This spells good news for the industry, if the news report by Grand View Research, Inc is anything to go by. The industrial agitators market will likely experience high growth due to the rapid industrialization in countries, and burgeoning economies, like China, India and Brazil. With industrial activities on the rise, these nation-states’ demand for efficient and corrosion-resistant agitators will reach an all-time high.

Why Agitators?
Industrial agitators are commonly used in the chemical, food & beverage, as well as the waste water treatment industries. The increasing adoption of blending and mixing technology in process industries may enhance the market during the period leading to 2024.

Industrial agetators

Agitators help process the products in industries used for mixing liquids, increasing heat transfer as well as promoting reaction of chemical substances. One of the other factors that could drive growth is the burgeoning demand for advanced, customised and corrosion resistant agitators that have a specific to the end-user application. The waste water treatment and chemical industries have a high demand for agitation, thereby boosting the demand for industrial agitators.

The Important Findings

 The top entry segment is expected to grow to a CAGR of over 6.5% till 2024. Industrial agitators are durable and provide homogenous and mixing needs in connection with requirements. The chemical and oil & gas industries’ use of these agitators has helped boost the industry growth

 The North American industry will likely remain the largest market due to the widespread adoption of agitators in a number of industrial sectors. It should be noted that the regional market is highly saturated and may account for over 30% by 2024.

The Many Uses of Industrial Agitators

Agitators, as the name suggests, can be best termed as instrumental devices which places liquids, semi-fluids and fluids into an “agitated state” with the help of a stirring motion. Since the advent of gadgets and machinery, agitators have become a staple in households owing to their various functions. It should be noted that industrial agitators perform the function of putting things in motion. Industrial agitators have made a significant impact in the food, chemical, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. They help blend liquids, promote reactions of chemical substances while also induce heat transfer with the help of heating and cooling. Since they are corrosion resistant, wear and tear will not be a major issue. 

Industrial Agitator

One of the most common uses of industrial agitators is in the drilling and concrete mixing process. In the drilling process, agitators are used for drilling into mud and other substances. The mud agitators are used to drill deep underground with the intent to mix mud and soil with water so as to ensure the easy removal of mud and soil away from the opening. 

In the concrete mixing process, agitators are usually latched onto the interior of a concrete holding tank that is them mounted on a large vehicle, especially trucks. The agitators placed inside the tankers starts a rotating the concrete inside without allowing the cement to dry before reaching the construction site. These agitators are usually corrosion resistant due to the materials used to construct them.

Industrial agitators come in a variety of sizes and designs that are suited for different applications. Agitators have greatly benefited the mining industry due to their ability to improve existing mixing systems. The use of agitators in paint mixing applications has had a significant impact on the commercial paint industry over the years.

Advantage Pilot Plant to Ensure a Smooth Commercial Process

Why is a pilot plant important for research and development? Most processes are scale dependent, making a pilot plant an integral part of the commercial process. The transition from a small-scale operations to a large scale production plant can be a challenging process. In such cases, the transition needs to smooth, but the initial set-up can be difficult. 

A large scale production plant is usually built on information which has been gathered by smaller units. 
There could be variations in kinetics, with reactions not as per expectation.

A pilot plant can help minimize the risk of human error, making performing experiments easier. A pilot plant allows you to make authentic comparisons as well as aiding in producing products in small quantities. When produced in small quantities, studying the reaction process is easier. Samples can also be handed over to consumers. In fact, for a pharma glass company, testing glass before manufacturing in a pilot plant is always a good option. 

A pilot plant is useful as far as coming with estimates of mass balance. Companies will be able to yield proper estimates. Lab experiments usually yield erroneous mass balances because quantities are smaller. When it comes to large scale production, values are way higher. The plant allows for the production of specialty chemicals that could go down well with markets.

Pilot plant | Pharma Glaass

A pilot plant can help an industrial unit proceed from lab testing to a full fledged operation without too much of a risk associated.The economics of setting up a large scale production is taken care of as corrosion resistant products, which may be the case with pharma glass,  may not really sell well. 

How to Improve Your Industrial Mixing Process

Are you thinking of expanding your manufacturing business in food & beverages, chemical, pharmaceutical, or cosmetics industry? If yes, then mixing of constituents, such as liquids, chemical substances, or even heat, becomes a key element of your manufacturing process. This is where Industrial Agitators play a key role. However, there are certain important attributes to keep in mind before deciding on the type of agitator set-up to be purchased:

Type of Agitator Machine to be used:

Based on the ‘type of mixing’ to be undertaken, the agitator set-up is decided. Be it between liquids, gas with liquid, solids with liquids, or even liquids with solids & gas, a common element between these is the requirement of a Corrosion Resistant lining in the agitator tank. This not only helps extend the agitator set-up’s life but also ensures the sanctity of the constituents being mixed.

Some of the popular Industrial Agitator Equipments include mechanical agitators, rotating tank agitators, agitators working with a pump blasting liquid, static agitators, and agitator mixer padole type, among others. So, it is imperative that based on your existing infrastructure (explained below) and the business requirement, you select the appropriate agitator machine set-up.

Fitment in the existing machine set-up:

Another decision that needs to be made is whether the inclusion of the agitator machine fits into your existing machine set-up. For example, in case of agitators for liquids, the preferred placement is vertically on top of the tank or horizontally on the side of the tank. As a result, it is important to consider how new agitator system will fit into the existing set-up. Further, if you plan on changing the mixer constituents, depending on what you plan to mix, the tank needs to be made Corrosion Resistant, if not already. This in in turn, will require you to re-think the speed of your manufacturing expansion.    

Corosion Resistant & Industrial Agitators

    

The Packaging Material of Choice for your Pharmaceutical Business

Do you own a Pharmaceutical, Cosmetics, or a Food & Beverage business? If yes, than packaging is one of the key aspects of your customer experience. Especially if you operate in the pharmaceutical industry and end up working with jars, vials, cartridges, and ampoules, where protection from foreign particles is of prime importance. This is where Pharma glass becomes a packaging material of choice for many. If you are in the market for packaging glass or setting up a Pilot Plant, you should keep the following in mind:

Pharma Glass

Quality & Conformance of the Packaging Material

Depending on the sensitivity of your solutions/products, the packaging glass with an appropriate quality level should be used. Typically, a pharma glass conforming to the international ISO GMP 15378/ISO 900 standards is considered as base quality suitable for most operations. Then there are region specific standards, such as EU–Pharmacopoeia or US-Pharmacopoeia. With these conformance standards in place, you can be assured that the quality of the packaging materials will satisfy your requirements. 

Requirement of Further Treatment

Based on the methods used to manufacture packaging glass, the number of particles present in the glass may vary. Now, in most cases such particles may not interfere with your product. However, if your product is sensitive in nature and exposure to foreign particles should be at a minimum, such as in case of a Pilot Plant, then manufacturing methods of the packaging materials become important. Here, keep an eye out for manufacturers following the laminar-flow technology or conforming to ISO 8 (category 100 000) standards. These quality standards lets you know that further treatment of the packaging material is not required and can be used directly in sensitive apparatus of the Pilot Plant.  

The Benefit of a Pilot Plant in Speeding the Commercial Process

Have you ever asked yourself why you needs a pilot plant for research and development? In fact, a number of processes are scale dependent. It can be quite a challenging experience to transition from small-scale operations to a large scale production plant. The transition needs to be smooth but the initial setting up can be a big scare.

A huge production plant is sometimes built based on information which is gathered at the small unit. However, the kinetics may differ considerably and the reactions may not be up to par. However, sometimes the best laid plans may not go according to plan. The worst case scenario could be that uncontrolled heat build-up could lead to abnormal reactions and possible explosions even if some materials are corrosion-resistant.

This cannot be attributed to human error, rather it could be a process that went wrong. The process takes a different turn when there is a change. It is also not possible at times to forecast these problems as they may be too complex to comprehend. A pilot plant can be very helpful as far as minimising error is concerned. Therefore, experiments can be studied more thoroughly without posing a major risk. The pilot plant does not only provide data before increasing scale of production, it serves other function. This include:

Corrosion resistant

1. It helps in making an authentic comparison with commercial grade raw material against the grade counterpart in the laboratory. During a lab study, the use of raw material and catalyst is not very big. Therefore, a highly pure grade can be used for the experiment. However, when it comes to a production plant, using pure materials would be feasible. Commercial grade material is best used.

2. The plant can be used for the production of small product quantities which can be used as raw material for market testing. The plant can be used to produce quantities which can be used to study the reaction process which might follow. It is one of the best ways to test a product in the real market. Samples can be handed out to customers to gauge their reactions

3. The quality of waste and by-products can be studied, in addition to assessing their saleability.

4. Waste generated can also be studied to determine if waste treatment is necessary. This will help understand the economics associated with the process.

5. A pilot plant will help come up with a more detailed mass balance. It will allow companies to give yield estimates. Lab experiments normally generate a sizeable number of erroneous mass balances due to the fact that quantities are much smaller. When it gets down to a full-blown production, the values are much higher.

6. A pilot plant will give you the liberty of producing specialty chemicals that may be appreciated by a more niche market. Therefore, it can safely be said that a pilot plant can help a business go from lab testing to high production plant faster without posing much of a risk. It also aids in keeping in focus the economics involved in setting up a large scale production because corrosion-resistant products may not translate to saleability.