WisePac®
Aluminum Desiccant Film
Protection for Freeze-dried Medication
As the aging population increases the needs for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products increases
Including the demand for proteins, microbes and antibiotics. Due to freeze-drying technology which can keep the aromatic and nutritional components of the medicine and keep the original properties of the substance. Thus, it’s been widely used in the production of such medications. In order to facilitate the use, this type of freeze-dried products are usually packaged in individual small packages made by aluminum film. Aluminum film packaging has properties of moisture resistance, oxygen resistance, and is able to keep light out the package, however, it is not able to remove the moisture. While freeze-dried medications easily absorb moisture and releases excess moisture during storage which affects the shelf-life of the product. So, how does one choose a suitable drying storage plan to ensure the quality of drugs during the shelf life? This is an urgent and essential problem to be solved for many brands.
Many of our clients have experienced the same problem. One of the customers’ product is a freeze-dried bagged antibiotics granules with a net weight of 5g and a moisture content of 0.6%. The customer required to reduce the moisture content to less than 0.2% by using a desiccant to absorb the moisture in the product. In order to achieve this goal, the customer came to WiseSorbent® R&D center to ask for a solution.
Newly developed aluminum desiccant film
Since this type of medication is bagged freeze-dried granules for one-time use, and the volume is quite small, traditional desiccant sachets and canisters is not suitable for this situation. Therefore, the researchers discounted the drop-in desiccants and recommended to use the aluminum desiccant film newly developed by WiseSorbent® as the packaging material for the medication. Aluminum desiccant film is not just an aluminum film, but a functional packaging material with a desiccant layer of active adsorption material (molecular sieve) which is able to absorb the water vapor in the packaging. At the same time, it also has the functionality of traditional aluminum film such as high-barrier, light-resistant, UV-resistant, which is suitable for freeze-dried medications that are extremely heat sensitive.
After deciding to utilize the aluminum desiccant film as the packaging material
The researchers obtained the required effective desiccative area of the aluminum desiccant film should be 4444mm2 according to the calculation model of the desiccant aluminum film provided by R&D center. It is suggested that the package should be a four-edge seal package with size of 70mm*50mm, and the sealing width of 5mm. The effective desiccative area of the aluminum desiccant film is 4800mm2.
According to the theoretical calculation value, the size of the required packaging bag is 70mm*50mm.
At the same time, the researchers also made a comparison test on the samples of 60mm*50mm and 70mm*60mm, preparing to choose the best plan from three sizes and specifications.
| wdt_ID | newcolumn | Packaging Bag Size (mm) | Effective Desiccant Area (mm²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samples 1 | 60*50 | 4000 |
| 2 | Samples 2 | 70*50 | 4800 |
| 3 | Samples 3 | 70*60 | 6000 |
Based on the dimensions above, 10 packaging bags were made respectively, each containing 5.0g±0.1g drugs. Five samples total: samples 1, 2 and 3 were respectively stored in two constant temperature and humidity chambers under different conditions at 25°C, RH50%, and 25°C, and RH90%. At day 10, day 20, day 30, day 40 and day 50, the moisture content of the three samples stored under two different conditions was tested as follows:
The test result showed that aluminum desiccant bags are able to effectively reduce the moisture content of the medications under either high humidity or regular humidity.
In sample 2 and 3, for 50 days, the moisture content dropped from 0.6% to 0.2%, and moisture content met the customer’s requirement. Therefore, effective desiccative area of medication packaging should be at least 4800mm2. We recommend using four edge seal packaging with size of 50 * 70 mm, or three edge seal packaging with size of 45 * 70 mm.
The customer was very satisfied with the desiccant packaging solution provided by Wisesorbent
The customer’s R&D director said: “WiseSorbent® R&D center is very professional in desiccant and helped us solved a big problem. This new type of desiccant film can be directly filled with automatic packaging machine, and there is no need to use additional desiccant dispensing equipment. Besides, this packaging solution does not need additional desiccant sachets, which is safer and more convenient for consumers to use while maintaining the good appearance of the package at the same time. This cooperation allowed us to see the power of this innovative product, the innovation of desiccants products also grants us to have more scope to play in the development of our new products.”
