HCPC announces winning compliance packages

Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News staff

The Healthcare Compliance Packaging Council (HCPC; Falls Church, VA) has announced the winners of its annual Compliance Package of the Year competition. “The engineering sophistication of the submissions received this year was extraordinary,” says HCPC executive director Peter Mayberry. “Each year, I witness improvement in the incorporation of compliance features, as well as in design elements to increase user friendliness, and inclusion of essential labeling while permitting educational and branding opportunities.”

The 2006 winners are:

Compliance Package of the Year: PocketPak by BurgoPak and Structural Graphics.

First Runner-Up: Aranesp Prefilled SureClick Autoinjector by Amgen.

Second Runner-Up: Clonidine Shellpak by UDL Laboratories.

Innovative Design: Rx Barrier Plus by Cardinal Health.

“In particular, the PocketPak was a standout entry which received ratings well above the other contenders. The judges were truly impressed with this package.”

Amgen’s Aranesp prefilled SureClick autoinjector was named as first runner-up in the competition. It is a combination product where device and drug are delivered as one unit. It consists of a spring-base, single-use, and fully disposable product in a 1-ml prefilled syringe. The Aranesp SureClick autoinjector reduces the number of administration steps required for dosing, compared with vial and exposed needle manipulation. “The all-in-one kit is a great tool to encourage compliance. The DVD and pamphlet add to the educational materials and should drive compliance,” commented one of the judges.

Shellpak for Clonidine, submitted by Mylan Pharmaceuticals/UDL Laboratories, was awarded second runnerup. The Shellpak is a child-resistant design by MeadWestvaco Healthcare Packaging that enables drug companies to employ easy-to-use pushthrough blister lidding. The Clonidine Shellpak is a 30-count unit-dose package with tablets arranged in four rows. The plastic shell’s sturdy nature also promotes portability. One judge noted that the Shellpak “could be the holy grail of child-resistant senior-friendly packaging: hard for kids to get to the blister [component of the package], but easy for adults to get the pills out.” It can be assembled cost-effectively at high speed.

Qualifying packages for the Compliance Package of the Year category must fulfill the following criteria:

As the 2006 Compliance Package of the Year winner, representatives from BurgoPak and Structural Graphics, manufacturers of the PocketPak, will be asked to designate a school of packaging to receive $6000 in scholarship funds provided by HCPC and Canon Communications, and the first and second runners-up will be asked to designate $2000 apiece in scholarship funds. Additionally, the Innovative Design winner will receive a $2000 scholarship designation.

The winning entries were honored at HCPC’s annual National Symposium on Patient Compliance May 15–16 in Baltimore. All qualifying entries will also be displayed at the HCPC booth during trade events over the next 12 months. Complete competition guidelines are available on the Internet by visiting www.unitdose.org or by contacting the HCPC offices at 703/538-4030.