An enhanced design for Berry Healthcare’s established Rispharm™ R2 multidose eye dropper is providing an improved patient experience in terms of safety and convenience, while maintaining its excellent drug protection and delivery performance without changes to pharma companies’ existing filling lines.

The new Rispharm™ R2 Multidose eye dropper meets the latest FDA recommendation to ensure that the tamper evident ring for any eye dropper stays connected to the bottle after opening with no risk of it falling off into the patient’s eye during administration of the product.

Berry Healthcare’s technical team has redesigned the tamper evident band to provide a secure ring retention feature, while at the same time improving the container closure integrity when in use by the patient. This further reduces the risk of product leakage and also optimises the opening and closing torque to enhance convenience and ease of access for the end-user.

For patients, these improvements have been achieved without any major changes to the design of the bottle, enabling them to maintain the same drug administration technique.

We understand that patients value the reassurance of a familiar routine for taking any medicines,” explained Preeti Thukral, Berry Healthcare’s Head of Technology. “These enhancements have therefore been implemented with no alterations to the bottle in order to maintain consumer confidence. And for pharmaceutical companies, this ensures that no changes are required for their existing filling lines.”

The Rispharm™ R2 multidose eye dropper design offers enhanced convenience over single unit dose droppers, especially if the drug needs to be carried and administered away from the home, where a single bottle is easier and less bulky than boxes of single doses. In addition, unlike single doses which should be discarded after opening, the Multidose bottle allows all the product to be used, while the design of the Risdrop™ dropper ensures accurate dispense of the drug, both of which avoid unnecessary waste.

The mono-material construction, which can be specified in both PE (polyethylene) and PP (polypropylene), means the full system can be easily recycled, keeping its environmental impact low.

Rispharm™ R2 can also be produced with Advanced Recycling Material rHDPE and rPP. The Bangalore India facility is now ISCC Plus accredited* and can produce and deliver Rispharm™ R2 with such recycled materials. The Offranville, France facility, which also produces Rispharm™ R2, will be ISCC Plus accredited in 2021.

This demonstrates Berry’s commitment to work with customers to help meet and exceed their sustainability goals as part of its Impact 2025 sustainability strategy, which includes a commitment to use post-consumer resin content and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2025 versus the company’s 2016 baseline.

The multidose eye dropper range offers capacities from 5ml to 15ml, and the tamper evident caps can be produced in a variety of colours. Gamma and ETO sterilisation options are also available. Berry Healthcare can provide service and support with the initial setup process and assistance with filling line requirements.

Rispharm™ R2 multidose eye dropper is a further example of Berry Healthcare’s ability to devise a unique, sustainable and convenient package solution for ophthalmic applications, taking into account the needs of both the customer and the patient,” commented Muriel Combeau, Head of Global Strategic Marketing, Berry Healthcare.

*ISCC is a globally applicable sustainability certification system, covering all sustainable feedstocks, including agricultural and forestry biomass, circular materials and renewables. ISCC Plus accreditation helps to enable a circular economy for chemicals using a mass balance approach, requiring strict traceability and verification by independent third-party auditors.