Allegra Pack Offers Convenience With Portable Clamshell

With its new trial package for Allegra OTC tablets (fexofenadine HCL), Sanofi US is providing a clamshell that breaks away from the card to become a reusable, recloseable, on-the-go solution.

The nomad package delivers a grab-and-go option to current users of Allegra OTC, with a non-standard design—clamshell and packaged blister cards are rendered in a distinctive “A” shape—to capture the attention of new users, says Nancy Limback, package development.

“This package is a novel concept that provides definite advantages as a value-add for consumers,” Limback says.

Launched into distribution last month by Chattem, Sanofi US’s consumer healthcare division, the pack is the brand’s first use of a carded clamshell. Allegra OTC trade packaging employs cartoned multi-tab blisters and cartoned or carded bottles.

The pack will expand Allegra OTC distribution beyond large chains and drug stores. “The trial pack opens up some new distribution channels for us; in convenience stores, airports, and hotel gift shops,” Limback says.

Various aspects of the trial pack are proprietary and subject to patent protection. The format involves a clamshell with perforated wings heat-sealed to a card. The user inserts a finger at an unsealed spot at the top of the clamshell to pull it off the card. The open and snap-close clam shell contains a two day supply of Allegra—two individual “A-shaped” blisters, each with a 180-mg tablet.

“You have a fully functional clamshell in your hand that is the shape of the ‘A.’ Once removed from the card, you can tuck it into your purse or suitcase and go,” Limback says.

Tamper evidence is provided by the perfed clamshell wings left on the card when the shell is removed, and through the blister itself. The printed push-through lidding is a patient-preferred, child-resistant multi-laminate foil Sanofi is introducing in Allegra, the company announced.

The blister packaging is handled at Sanofi’s St. Louis, MO, facility, with Witko Inc. (Wolcott, IN; www.witkoinc.com) assisting for the secondary packaging and assembly. Sanofi’s St. Louis-based Industrial Development and Innovation Package Development team worked with Chattem on the design.

A user-centered, grab-and-go design that would capture consumer attention was part of the design, which covered package performance, product protection, manufacturability. Additional design embodiments required that the pack had to display standing alone, in a display tray, or pegged, Limback says.

“Packaging Development then assisted with identified vendors, who worked at our direction on over 30 different innovative packaging proposals. We considered bottles, pouches, and different blister shapes and counts for the primary packaging. Wallet packs, cards, cartons, and molded polymers were among secondary packaging choices.

“Each of the designs were then evaluated against certain requirements, and balanced with associated costs,” Limback says.

The pack is manufactured using standard materials, on existing blister pack and heat sealing equipment.

Package Development also considered sustainability in the material choices. The clamshell features Sanofi US’s first use of RPET, or recycled PET. The heat seal card and display tray feature the company’s first use of Sustainable Forestry Initiative paperboard and logo.