Choosing Polymer or Glass Primary Drug Containers | The Advantages and Disadvantages

As many device manufactures are focusing their efforts on making their devices more sustainable, just how sustainable are polymer based PDC’s?

Variable dose injector pens are particularly challenging as characterisation of the PDC needs to be fully understood prior to significant development of the device’s mechanism. Furthermore, variability of the drug being dosed through small PDC geometry can result in potentially dangerous scenarios of under or, overdosing the user.

Below, we have listed the advantages and disadvantages of glass and polymer PDC’s.

Glass Syringes Advantages:

• Proven history of drug compatibility
• Regulatory Acceptance
• Market familiarity
• Glass’s barrier properties prevent oxygen and water vapour from interacting with drug compounds
• Established manufacturing and filling processes
• 100% recyclable
• Coloured glass can provide protection from UV rays under some more challenging environmental requirements
• Highly temperature resistant
• Ability to be collected, sterilised and reuse

Polymer PDC Advantages:

• Delivery speed consistency, preventing wet injections even when injecting challenging formulations, e.g. non-Newtonian fluids
• Shorter injection times for viscous formulations, without the risk of glass breakage
• Needle depth consistency, reducing the risk of adverse events
• Improved user experience through smaller gauge needles
• Design freedom & flexibility of moulding techniques allow for certain features to be incorporated into the design, such as; rotational alignment, increased strength from rib structures, semi-compliant structures, dedicated viewing windows for clarity, dual drug systems, etc
• Tighter tolerances can be achieved
• Potential for smaller device design
• Potential for reduced device weight