Andrew Lee, senior consultant at lab services and consultancy specialist, Broughton, reports that packaging selection is an important consideration for many drug products, particularly pressurised metered dose inhalers (pMDIs). In particular, pMDI valve design can be an important factor, as these components are crucial to the correct drug delivery.
Key insights:
- Valve design variations can vary according to the exact formulation and dose required. For example, API formulations would require a gathering ring as part of the metering valve to disperse the suspension and ensure uniform filling of the suspended API into the valve.
- Most pharma businesses will not manufacture their own valves and instead, partner with a reliable third-party manufacturer.
- As the plastics industry has become more aligned with good manufacturing practice (GMP), product recalls have become rarer.
pMDIs are a common treatment option for the 5.4 million people with asthma and the further 1.2 million who have COPD in the UK. The devices utilise pressurised canisters of propellant, with the drug in solution or suspension, to deliver small, metered doses into a patient’s lungs. This delivery can occur either directly, or via add-on devices like spacers and valved holding chambers (VHCs).