Healthcare Compliance Packaging Council's 2008 Compliance Packages of the Year

Winners of the Healthcare Compliance Packaging Council’s 2008 Compliance Package of the Year competition represent the best in design and innovation for unit-dose, compliance-style packages for pharmaceuticals, the group reports. The 2008 Compliance Package of the Year, the Prempro Starter Kit, combines four pouched blister physician samples with an assortment of support devices. The kit provides 20 days of therapy to help the patient acclimate to the dosing regimen. It consists of the blister packs along with an informational brochure, a patient education enrollment card, a prepaid business reply card, and a patient insert.

Stora Enso’s PharmaDDSi Suboxone Compliance Monitoring Package was named as First Runner-Up in the 2008 competition. This package incorporates an electronic microchip to monitor compliance and was designed by Stora Enso for use by Kuopio University Hospital of Finland for its Suboxone treatment study. Because compliance was critical in the study, the PharmaDDSi package was used and results revealed low variability in registered time-cues that confirm good compliance.

The Innovative Design prize was awarded to CIAB–Compliance In a Bottle by Anderson Packaging Inc. and AmerisourceBergen Packaging Group. The package is highly portable as well as extremely sturdy, making it convenient for taking along on a daily or longer-term basis. The broad surfaces allow for branding opportunities as well as labeling. Brand distinction is also increased through customization of the bottle color, size, and label design, each of which is customizable. Opening the package is a simple, push-down-and-slide motion to remove the cap. Consumers can then pull the blister card out for ease of dispensing. Because the child resistance is provided by the outer package, the burst strength necessary to compromise the pill cavity is minimized, providing additional senior-friendliness.

Winners were recognized at HCPC’s National Symposium, held this year on May 12 in Valley Forge, PA. During the awards luncheon, each winner was presented with a commemorative plaque and received congratulations from all in attendance. Additionally, each winner is entitled to designate scholarship funds provided by the HCPC and Canon Communications to a school of packaging of its choice. A total of $12,000 will be awarded to Michigan State University, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Western Michigan University.