Pfizer wins trophy for compliance enhancing packaging designs

Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News staff

By Gina Monari

At Fleming Europe's Pharma packaging and labelling compliance conference 2011, which took place in Barcelona on March 23rd and 24th, the HCPC Alliance1) presented for the first time the Columbus Award for compliance enhancing packaging design. Innovative packaging solutions with elements to help patients to take their medications as prescribed were presented and the Columbus Award was given to the solution that, according to the jury, offered the most comprehensive support.
 
 
Out of a large number of entries the jury short-listed the following three outstanding packaging solutions for the award, including Toviaz (IntuiDose) from Anderson Packaging Inc./AmerisourceBergen Packaging Group on behalf of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals; Coartem dispersible tablets from Novartis; and Champix/Chanitx, global wallet portfolio from Pfizer Manufacturing Deutschland GmbH.
 

Toviaz's Wallet design provides a comprehensive approach to initializing overactive bladder therapy utilizing a compliance prompting package design integrated with extensive tools for patient education, tips and tools for a detailed treatment plan, and tools to facilitate patient-doctor interaction for managing symptoms.
 

Packaging for Coartem's dispersible tablets was designed to promote and help compliance in malaria treatment. Packaging enhances the dialogue between healthcare provider and patient. Pictorial and colour coded packs explain not only how but also why to be compliant with the 3-day course of therapy; Decreasing parasite count following each dose. Thanks to a unique public-private agreement with WHO Novartis makes Coartem available at cost.
 

The Champix/Chantix wallet packaging portfolio is an answer to the question how to enhance compliance for products marketed on a global scale by customized packaging solutions. It provides a multi-dimensional solution for the essential product medication scheme, regional packaging requirements but also important prescription and reimbursement regulations.
 

The different presentations for the United States, Japanese, and rest-of-world markets were specifically designed to meet specific packaging requirements, such as U.S. child resistance requirements.
 

The jury, HCPC-Alliance, consisting of the HCPC-Europe’s and HCPC of America’s board members, made their decision based on a “Pugh Matrix” evaluation, following the assessment of criteria such as basic design; ease of use; intuitiveness of use; leaflet presentation; affordability and environmental effects.
 

The trophy, incorporating Columbus' Egg2, a symbol for an innovative solution for what might appear to be a complex unsolvable problem, went to Pfizer’s Champix/Chantix global wallet portfolio.