Packaging of pharmaceutical products requires the inclusion of a multiplicity of essential information, such as product information, warnings about tampering or incorrect storage, as well as protecting against counterfeiting. The volume of information required, as well as increased legislation and a greater demand from consumers for information about pharmaceutical products, has led to a number of packaging challenges for pharmaceutical manufacturers.

A new method of attaching information related to pharmaceutical products offers a number of advantages over previous package-inserts, asserts Pyrotec PackMedia.

The company’s Fix-a-Form informational booklet is said to offer four major benefits for pharmaceutical packaging:

Simplicity

• Fewer packaging components - simplifies logistics and reduces costs, while maintaining compliance with legislation
• Decreased inventory and improved security as a result of fewer components that need to be stored, handled and checked
• Packaging lines can be simplified by, for example, eliminating the need for expensive cartoning equipment that can slow production, inserting leaflets by hand, or having to match several packaging elements, such as leaflet, label, and carton together on the packing line
• Multilingual labels reduce the need for separate packaging for different languages  

Automatic application

• Booklet labels are supplied on-reel for automatic application
• Standard labelling equipment is used
• Applicators can be installed for temporary use
• No changes or only minor adjustments to existing production lines are required when applying booklet labels

Increased security

• Fix-a-Form booklet labels adhere directly to the product, which means important user instructions are not easily separated from the product, ensuring increased safety and security
• Dual barcodes can be added to the label to ensure the correct booklet-to-label match
• Security features can be incorporated into the label to deter counterfeiting
• Tactile warning triangles and braille can be added, to alert the visually impaired when handling a potentially dangerous product

Added value

• Instructions and other added-value information can be incorporated into informational booklet labels
• Extra pages provide space to promote other related products or to provide more information for consumers
• Give-away items such as sachets, fridge magnets and stickers can be incorporated into the label

Pyrotec PackMedia states that its booklet labels provide considerable potential for cost savings and waste reduction, increasing efficiencies and sales.