Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing
by Andrea Wagner, Ph.D.
Located in Venice Italy, the 6th OMPI day was held. OMPI, a company headquartered in Italy and started in 1949, is now a worldwide company that has brought significant advances in pharmaceutical industry for cartridges, vials and syringes in ready to use (RTU) formats.
OMPI brought together over 300 participants to discuss advancements in the packaging of pharmaceutical, biomedical and medical device products. Amazing accommodations, all paid for by OMPI, unbelievable food and spirits wrapped around a day of learning about the industry that we all rely on to bring us safe medicines for the future.
The president, Sergio Stevanato, Franco Stevanato, CEO, and Christophe Bureau, VP Strategic Innovation were just some of the speakers. The topics ranged from a discussion of all the platforms that OMPI supports but also the innovation that will be coming soon. They discussed their goals to become a full solution provider for the industry, and to be a partner for pharma and drug development groups. OMPI has demonstrated this recently by bringing new arrangements in RTU productions. An example of this is their RTU cartridges. These are pre-nested, pre-siliconized, stoppered, crimped and nested then sterilized. This allows easy filling on a syringe filling line (with a small retro-fit) and allows companies to easily evaluate using cartridges without a dedicated line.
The day included talks on a new SEO application to better manage the drug user interface by encoding information into the devices they sell and expanding this to have end users better manage their treatment regime. This new “software” is called A to Be. For the diabetic community they have a special platform called U to Be. The software tracks the product and can assist end users in better compliance to their treatment program.
They have worked on syringe glide force and are looking at the siliconization on the glide force with various products. Their – SG Lab – allows for multiple container testing programs that doesn’t restrict the ability to customize.
The day also held a comprehensive tour of their manufacturing facilities for over 300 visitors. The growth was astonishing. The company produces 24/7, and they are continuing to expand due to need. They have custom areas for production and robotic production and inspection lines for their “normal” offerings. The day ended with a trade-show exhibit by multiple vendors with barrier filling technology, transfer devices, and amazing food and drink.
To go on more about this event, OMPI had the final GALA which was hosted at a beautiful museum in Venice. The location and even the gilded aged chamber music musicians were spectacular. Those lucky enough to afford themselves more time were treated to a tour of Venice the next day prior to their farewell. Another amazing OMPI Day and those not lucky enough to attend should consider re-thinking this in the future. OMPI is a great company to work with and they truly appreciate their customers.
