AUGUST 2022LIFE SCIENCES REVIEW8t PCI, we are continuing to expand our Biotech capabilities with a further $13.5m investment in the latest, state-of-the-art packaging technologies, complementing and mirroring recent investment in our U.S. Biotech Centre of Excellence at PCI's Philadelphia facility. The planned European investment will enhance our capacity to process the novel drug delivery systems required for biologic products, providing our customers with end-to-end packaging solutions to meet growing market demands.The packaging of biologics is highly complex, often requiring very specific packaging, storage and logistics solutions. An understanding of the potential risks to the product throughout the life-cycle is critical; as a result, using an expert partner able to take a product from the early stages of clinical development through a scalable process to commercial launch can be a cost-effective way of minimizing risk whilst expediting timelines.PCI has been delivering biotech services for over 20 years and has developed a wealth of experience and expertise in managing such products. It is well recognized that worldwide forecasts for biologic drugs, including the increasing prevalence of biosimilars, has seen significant growth over the last decade, a trend set to continue over the coming years. As a result, this latest investment follows PCI's continued strategy of investing in technology and capacity today to offer the best possible solutions for our client's future demand.Another noteworthy trend is that of more personalized therapies and self-administration by the patients in the home setting. This has led to an increase in the range of delivery formats and packaging presentations required, expertise in which is essential. When considering the commercial packaging of biologics and biosimilars, at PCI we are able to support a diverse portfolio of conventional and speciality delivery forms. Our capabilities and expertise include the packaging of ampoules, vials, cartridges and standard prefilled syringes (PFS), as well as advanced safety syringes, auto injectors and pen devices including dial-based and reusable formats.Our technologies provide a highly flexible approach to the packaging of parenteral products. All processes are fully scalable, allowing us to customize our solutions to meet the needs of every client in terms of pack complexity and batch size to deliver forecasted sales volumes. In addition to the increasingly complex packaging requirements, almost all biologic medicines require cold chain management. To manage this growing demand and in anticipation of future growth, PCI has also expanded its overall cold chain infrastructure. In handling biologics, we already maintain a comprehensive cold chain and ultra-cold chain portfolio with temperature ranges including refrigerated (2­8 °C), frozen (­20 °C, ­40 °C, ­80 °C) AChris DobbsPCI ­ EXPANDING ITS BIOTECH FOOTPRINTIN MY OPINIONBy Chris Dobbs, CEng MIET, Head of Technical Engineering, PCI Pharma Services
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