Medical Device Link.

Originally Published PMPN May 2003

Tubes

Daphne Allen

Well over a hundred years ago, tubes revolutionized healthcare product packaging. In 1892 a dentist by the name of Sheffield decided a collapsible metal tube was more sanitary, convenient, and protective than a jar, so tubes displaced jars as dentifrice packaging. 

Improvements in materials, printing, and closures have made the tube even easier to use. Recent innovations include airless tubes, expanded text labeling, and enhanced dispensers.

AIRLESS TUBES

Cebal Americas (Norwalk, CT) has introduced a new tube that protects contents from contaminants or product being drawn back into the tube. The airless tube has a PE spring-loaded valve built into the dispenser that restricts airflow back into the tube. The 1-in. tube can be supplied in monolayer or coextruded plastic in lengths from 3 to 41¼2 in. and in fill sizes from 0.75 to 1.25 oz.

Expac Corp. (Montvale, NJ) is currently distributing the Cebal tube to Target Corp. for its Sonia Kashuk Pro-Nutrient Serum product. “This tube is more attractive than a collapsible metal or laminate tube because it doesn’t look like it’s collapsing,” explains Rich Flynn, director of sales at Expac. “It always looks like new.” While this particular application involves a personal-care product, Flynn says that the tube should be of interest to pharmaceutical companies because many drug products could benefit from the tube’s airless feature.

In its annual Tube of the Year contest, The Tube Council (Montclair, NJ) recognized the Pro-Nutrient Serum tube as its 2002 Personal Care Tube of the Year. According to Flynn, the tube is manufactured and labeled by Cebal and then supplied to Bentley Labs (Mahwah, NJ) for filling.


INCREASED LABELING

Ampersand Label (Garden Grove, CA) has devised the FlexView. The two-layer construction increases labeling space by 200%, explains Ampersand’s president Paulette Carnes. This extra space can be particularly useful to companies that need to include a Drug Facts panel to meet FDA’s OTC labeling regulations, she adds.

The label can be color-matched to the tube, and it can overlap for 360-degree coverage, if necessary. “You can squeeze it any direction and the label conforms to the tube. It has a static feel to it, so it almost automatically closes,” Carnes explains. The label is designed for machine application, which yields only 7% scrap, she adds. It can be printed in up to 175-line screen print in up to 12 colors.

Coloplast Corp. (Marietta, GA) has chosen the FlexView for a number of its hospital-use products, says Carnes. The firm is using overlapping versions of FlexView for its 2.5-oz and 5-oz tubes. “The reason for the expanded label was to comply with FDA’s OTC back label monograph that requires specific information be laid out in a specific format. The choice was either to go to a much larger tube or to find a way to get all the required copy on an expanded label,” says Randolph D. Barranger, Coloplast’s vice president, commercial development.

Also, Dermatologic Cosmetic Laboratories chose the FlexView for its Acne Healing System, packaged in 0.5- and 2.5-oz tubes. This product won The Tube Council’s 2002 Innovative Component of the Year Award.

DISPENSING

According to Michael Hoard, Cebal’s director of marketing, consumers are looking for simple features that can be built in to packages to increase their convenience. With this in mind, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) recently redesigned the dispensing head for its Super PoliGrip Denture Adhesive Cream. The firm had heard that users wanted to get as much spread as possible into the denture with little or no excess that could ooze out when placing the dentures in their mouth. Standard dispensers appeared to offer little help.

GSK’s solution was the Ooze-Control Tip. Based on a design developed by GSK, Cebal modified the tube’s round orifice to a rectangular one. The result is an evenly applied product stream that seems to be just enough. Judges for The Tube Council awarded the package the council’s 2002 Laminate Tube of the Year. 

While GSK’s challenge was to avoid overdispensing, other companies may want to dispense a lot of product with little effort. For instance, for its elliptical-shaped tubes, Norden AndBro (Pitman, NJ) offers a two-part, injection-molded flip cap that may be molded in two different colors for a unique effect. The cap is cut on an angle to allow the most product to dispense from the tube, explains Deborah Spaeth, sales for Norden.

Another dispenser that got the attention of The Tube Council judges was that of the tube for Vetoquinol’s Jump Start nutritional supplement for reptiles. The tube won the 2002 Food Tube of the Year. “We wanted a device that could dispense the supplement directly into the reptile’s mouth,” explains Vetoquinol’s purchasing manager Jack Cox. After switching from an aluminum tube to a laminate one, Cox says he found an unbroached pile pipette from Pen Bottle Supply (Philadelphia) and added it to the laminate tubes he obtains from CCL Container (Naperville, IL).

Another tube produced by CCL Container also found favor with The Tube Council judges. The tube for Vibrac/St. Jon’s Petromalt was recognized as the 2002 Pharmaceutical Tube of the Year for its recently redesigned head and neck. The product, a malt intended to help cats pass or prevent hairballs, turned black when it came in contact with the tube’s aluminum neck. “This tube has very unique features from a construction point of view,” explains CCL Container’s John Miller. “It is internally lined to stop any corrosion from the paste on the aluminum structure. In addition, to make the white base coat, in the design flow we added a coated shoulder and a plastic outsert over the neck. The customer decided on the use of an aluminum tube so that the paste could be easily and evenly dispensed without any suck back.”

Norden AndBro’s newest package is the Handsfree For Men Quick Shave, which was just recognized by The Tube Council with a 2002 Showcase Award. “This oval tube features a sponge on the dispensing end and a razor on the sealed end,” Spaeth explains. “Filled with shaving cream, the tube allows consumers to apply the cream hands free and flip the tube to shave. The oval shape of the tube adds to its stability and helps create a natural handle. Due to the sponge application, the product lasts almost twice as long as if applied with the hand.”

Rexam Closures & Containers offers a one-piece, senior-friendly, child-resistant (CR) tube closure. With a push-and-turn mechanism, the Tubelok was developed for prescription and over-the-counter products. CCA Industries Inc. (East Rutherford, NJ) uses it on its Bikini Zone product in a Cebal tube. The topical analgesic gel used to relieve bikini area irritation after shaving and waxing contains lidocaine, which the Consumer Product Safety Commission requires to be sold in CR packaging. 

APPEAL

Cebal color-matched the tube and cap to P&G’s Rejuvenating Effects toothpaste.

In the cases of two recent tubes, the enhanced designs have the product to thank. For instance, Discus Dental (Culver City, CA) wanted to show off its Zoom! whitening toothpaste, so the firm chose a tube with clear shoulders. The product line has a blue and silver theme, says a company spokesperson, so it relied on the blue-colored paste to provide the blue. For silver, they “turned the laminate tube inside out.” 

For Procter & Gamble’s new Crest Rejuvenating Effects toothpaste, Cebal supplied a tube with a teal-pigmented film incorporated into the laminate web. “The product itself is teal, so we matched the tube to the product and to the cap,” says Cebal’s Hoard. “Getting the color right was very important.” The tube received The Tube Council’s 2002 Dentifrice Tube of the Year Award.
CCL Plastic Packaging’s (Los Angeles) president Gene Dorsch adds that plastic tubes can be used to dress up a tubed product, even if it has high-barrier requirements. “Plastic tubes with oxygen-barrier properties are very close or approximate to those of a laminate tube. We have produced five-layer tubes incorporating a layer of EVOH for various products.” In addition to the endless color possibilities that plastic allows, plastic tubes can be offset or screen printed, labeled, and hot stamped. They can even feature a matte finish or soft touch. 

Cebal’s Hoard agrees that plastic tubes offer a lot of consumer appeal, adding that many healthcare and beauty aid product marketers are using matte finishes to differentiate their products from the competition. Cebal recently provided plastic tubes with matte finishes for pHisoderm’s new Acne-Fighting Blemish Masque. (For more on this new product launch, see the sidebar on page 50.)

Howard Thau, president of Sonic Packaging Industries Inc. (Westwood, NJ), sees an increased interest in labeled tubes. “Multicolor film labels give companies the freedom to create the graphics they want without the limitation of direct printing. Firms can then order smaller quantities per product, yet can take advantage of the price breaks when using the same size package for different products.”

Miller says that consumers prefer “a tube that can stand up and is easy to get a hold of. We continue to see increased demand for stand-up caps, especially those with a flip top, so only one hand is required to open the tube. We have developed special necks and assembly equipment to adapt these caps to our tubes.” 

Copyright ©2003 Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News