How to prepare your packaging supply chain during a pandemic

Jeff Smythe, commercial development manager at Datwyler explains the importance of ensuring a robust parenteral packaging supply chain in unprecedented times.

The year 2020 has truly been an unprecedented time for most of us, but in the healthcare world, preparing for a pandemic is par for the course. Epidemiologists have worked for years to study coronaviruses, which is now helping companies lead the way in developing potential treatments, cures, and vaccines. For drug developers, being ready to develop and mass produce drugs for a pandemic situation is an essential part of their risk management strategy. But what about the packaging suppliers that create containers, stoppers, plungers, and seals to protect and deliver these vital drugs? How do you manufacture enough drug product and its packaging to vaccinate the entire world?

Capacity Limitations

Even when operating 24/7, drug developers and their suppliers can only manufacture a finite amount of product based on manufacturing capacity. Manufacturing volumes are determined based on years of historic volumes, sales forecasting and industry projections. These projections then define the amount of staff, equipment, and building space needed to meet demand. In the case of our current pandemic, the cost, time, and square footage needed to produce vaccines for the entire globe are more than any one supplier can handle. The solution to this problem is to qualify multiple suppliers to meet global demand. With the top packaging suppliers working transparently with the leading pharmaceutical companies to develop and produce the final product, we can proactively mitigate potential capacity limitations.

Scaling-up to Maximum Capacity

Even with all major suppliers working to qualify multiple vaccine solutions, each supplier must also consider the difficulty in scaling-up production to meet maximum capacity. First, suppliers need to consider that the Covid-19  vaccine is not the only essential drug product being manufactured in 2020. Life-saving medications still need to be produced and distributed to patients during the pandemic, which means that suppliers must find a way to continue meeting current demand while also using excess capacity for the Covid-19 vaccine. In some cases, suppliers will need to invest in new equipment, raw materials and more staff to handle the increase in volumes. For faster scale-up, find suppliers with continuous manufacturing improvement capabilities already in place and excess capacity that can be used for vaccine production.

Availability of Raw Materials

Raw materials for parenteral packaging components are sourced from all over the globe, and procurement can be interrupted now that country-wide shutdowns and shipping and travel restrictions are in effect. Drug developers should partner with suppliers that have a global procurement and supply chain already in place to ensure raw materials can be sourced no matter the situation. Additionally, drug developers should build packaging inventory now to hedge against lead times and potential capacity constraints.

To mitigate these risks and prepare for future emergency situations, drug developers and packaging suppliers need to work together early in the development process and put into place risk mitigation plans for every scenario. Together, we will find a solution to this global pandemic and have plans in place to prepare for future unprecedented times.