‘We have an unrelenting commitment to quality and delivering results in everything we make and do’

Scott Gaddis, Global Business Leader, Healthcare Products, Honeywell in an interview with Usha Sharma talk about Honeywell’s contribution to Indian pharma packaging market

Tell us about the ongoing activities of Honeywell PMT’s pharmaceutical packaging materials business

Honeywell invents and manufactures technologies to address some of the world’s toughest challenges initiated by revolutionary macrotrends in science, technology and society. With approximately 127,000 employees worldwide, including more than 22,000 technologists, we have an unrelenting commitment to quality and delivering results in everything we make and do.

Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies (PMT) is a global leader in developing advanced materials, process technologies and automation solutions. PMT’s advanced materials businesses manufacture a wide variety of high-performance products, including environmentally friendlier refrigerants and materials used to manufacture end products such as bullet-resistant armor, nylon, computer chips and pharma packaging.

Honeywell’s healthcare and packaging business produces Honeywell Aclar barrier films. Aclar helps pharma packaging professionals lower their packaging costs, improve the flexibility of their operations, and increase overall profitability. Aclar films are based on poly-chloro-tri-fluoro-ethylene (PCTFE) fluoropolymer technology and have excellent moisture barrier and chemical stability properties. Our films are available in a variety of gauges and barrier levels and protect some of the world’s most important medications in all climates and environments. Aclar film can also reduce overall pack size and is crystal clear, enabling the customer to uniquely brand their products and bring them to market in the next generation of cost effective patient-centric packaging.

For more than 40 years, Honeywell and Aclar have been the trusted choice for pharma packaging. Today, Aclar thermoformable films are used in a broad range of markets including originator and generic pharma, over-the-counter (OTC) pharma and animal health packaging. Not only does Honeywell’s Aclar barrier film have an impeccable track record for quality and protection, Aclar also comes with a dedicated service and pack design team that ensures seamlessly fitment with the end user’s process.

Recently, Honeywell announced the launch of Safyr (pronounced: sapphire), a high-moisture barrier thermoformable film designed specifically to meet the requirements of India’s pharma packaging market.

The company has recently launched Safyr, a high – moisture barrier thermoformable film. Tell us more about the product

We have recently launched Safyr, specifically to meet the requirements of India’s domestic pharma packaging market.

Safyr is a CTFE-based polymer with excellent moisture barrier properties and has been designed specifically for the domestic market. Safyr affords manufacturers with design flexibility and performs better than its alternatives. Honeywell has optimised Safyr to meet regulatory requirements specific to the domestic pharma push-through packaging market in India. That, and the fact that Safyr has a standardisation of SKU, all help in process and cost optimisation.

Some of the product’s key benefits include:

• Safyr gives flexibility: Cold form foil or foil strip packs no longer need to be the primarily chosen package formats to pass stability. Safyr film, available in a 2 mil (51µ) thickness, will likely pass stability for most of the commonly prescribed drugs in India. By utilising a thermoforming platform, pharma companies can decrease their pack size versus foil formats and increase pack density, while improving patient acceptance.
• Safyr lowers overall packaging costs: With Safyr films, packaging capacity can be increased with the same line speed, allowing significant reduction in capital expenditure for new or additional blister lines – thus increasing the manufacturer’s overall equipment efficiency (OEE). The reduced pack size means fewer raw materials, including primary packaging material, lid stock and secondary packaging, leading to reduced total cost of goods.
• Safyr performs better than alternatives: Other competitive thermoformable offerings on the market are brittle, require special storage conditions and have shelf-life limitations. In addition, these materials can corrode equipment and tooling during processing, resulting in higher maintenance and tooling costs. Safyr does not yellow over time; has a longer storage life versus alternatives; requires no pre-conditioning prior to operational use; and will not corrode tooling and equipment.

Today, several companies are offering similar services to pharma companies. How can Safyr be differentiated from the rest?

Safyr is a thermoformable material, thus providing all the benefits of a thermoforming packaging platform versus cold form foil. These benefits include, but aren’t limited to, smaller pack size, increased pack density, faster processing, and improved patient acceptance.In addition, Safyr is transparent, allowing the drug to be seen, which aids in identifying and accessing the drug in the pack.

Over and above the product’s benefits already detailed, Safyr is priced competitively against the next best alternative product in the Indian market – a price more suited to the purchase trends of the domestic market. In addition, Safyr is not bound to the production process designed specifically for Aclar. Safyr will also be offered in only one thickness, in one width, and in one length – with no exceptions, allowing Honeywell to further maximise efficiencies in the manufacturing process and control costs.

What regulatory requirements does Safyr follow and how it helps pharma companies in reducing the cost as well as productivity?

Currently, Safyr is designed to meet the regulatory requirements specific to the Indian domestic pharma packaging market. Safyr will also be offered in only one thickness, in one width, and in one length – with no exceptions, allowing Honeywell to further maximise efficiencies in the manufacturing process and control costs. Safyr thus allows for a more efficient manufacturing process, allowing us greater flexibility in pricing it to the market it will serve.

What are your expectations from Safyr in its first year of launch?

Our focus in our first year is on making our customers aware of this exciting new offering which will give them an alternative to existing packaging platforms.

Why do you think pharma companies should opt for Safyr?

As a thermoformable material, Safyr provides all the benefits of a thermoforming packaging platform versus cold form foil – smaller pack size, increased pack density, faster processing, and improved patient acceptance. Safyr is also priced competitively against the next best alternative product in the Indian market, a price more suited to the purchase trends of the domestic market. In addition, since Safyr is offered in only one thickness, in one width, and in one length, with no exceptions, companies will be able to leverage Honeywell’s maximised efficiencies in the manufacturing process, leading to eventually controlling costs.

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