Originally Published PMPN
December 2003
NEWS
Drug Facts Labeling Change Wins Pyramid Award |
ExxonMobil Chemical (Houston) announced the winners of this year’s Golden Mummy and Pyramid Awards in conjunction with Pack Expo Las Vegas.
NcNeil Consumer and Specialty Pharmaceuticals (Fort Washington, PA) won a Pyramid Award for the labeling structure on its vial products. The company partnered with National Label Co. and adhesive coater Ritrama to design the new label in response to FDA’s Drug Facts changes. Prior to the change, McNeil used a PVC shrink sleeve. To accommodate the increase in text, the new design em-ploys a 370-degree pressure-sensitive label and National Label’s 900-degree extended wrap label.
“The label wraps around the vial two and a half times,” says Neil Sellars, director of product development and marketing for National Label Co. The application proved challenging in many ways, Sellars relates. “We had to find a film that would wrap onto itself, that would be tight enough to stay completely closed throughout the life cycle of the product, but also be easy for the consumer to open.” National Label chose ExxonMobil’s Label-Lyte 302 for its cost-effectiveness, printability on press, and resealing properties. McNeil also re-quired tamper-evident features, which the film provided. “If someone were to try to remove this product from the primary container, it would destruct,” says Sellars.
The most difficult part of the application, says Sellars, was devising a method to apply the label to the taper of the vial. “We had to not only design [the label] in a tapered manner,” he says, “but we also had to work to develop a piece of equipment to do this.” National Label worked with
Harland Machine Systems (Manchester, UK). The company came up with a vertical labeler that uses a pulsar system to continuously feed the material at a high speed.
“McNeil sells this product as a convenience product,” says Sellars. “We looked at a number of designs. The other format was a blister card. But, if McNeil had to put it into a blister card, they may have had to pull it off the shelf because of the cost.”
Copyright ©2003 Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News
