Glass Technology Services: Due Diligence and Selection of Pharmaceutical Glassware – Workshop

Glass Technology Services will be hosting a one-day workshop covering an introduction to glass and appropriate due diligence for those working with glass in the pharmaceutical supply chain.

This open workshop will provide guests with an introduction to the use of glass as primary pharmaceutical packaging – including how glass is made and processed, tubular and moulded glassware, quality control, common defects and failures and the importance of appropriate selection in terms of both specification and durability.

To be held in Sheffield on Thursday 7 June, this workshop is being held free of charge for organisations working within the pharmaceutical supply chain – suppliers, contract fillers, drug manufacturers and those in packaging, regulatory affairs and quality assurance roles.

Philip Marsh, Business Development Manager at Glass Technology Services Ltd, said: “Listening to our clients and monitoring changes in the industry we are all-too aware of the pressures they face – including increasing regulatory and supply-chain demands. Recent years have seen requirements for increasingly tight dimensional specifications, comprehensive delamination studies and rapid failure and foreign body analyses grow substantially.

There is limited independent advice available, so we felt we could help our clients and others operating in this sector with a workshop focusing upon appropriate selection and due diligence for glass pharmaceutical primary packaging.

The day has been structured based upon the issues and requirements of our clients – starting with an introduction to glass, glass manufacture and processing. Specialists from our teams will then focus on key topics including regulatory requirements, pharmacopoeial verification, defects, quality control and failure of these essential glass products.”

Attendees will learn about key regulatory and quality assurance issues such as glass durability, delamination, elemental migration, pharmacopoeial verification and the differences between types I, II and III glasses, an understanding of the manufacture and processing of tubular and moulded pharmaceutical glass packaging, glass performance, defects, types of failure and dimensional specifications and tolerances.

The day will include a tour of the laboratory facilities, including demonstrations of key analyses and services provided in this sector. The team will also discuss and demonstrate some of the cutting-edge research and developments underway. These include ‘dissolvable’ glasses designed for controlled release of ions, phosphate fibres for integration within the human body, 3D printing and additive manufacture and anti-bacterial glasses – all currently under development for use in the biomedical sector.

Glass Technology Services Ltd (GTS) provides analysis, consultancy, testing and research and development support to all parts of the glass supply chain – from raw materials to the end consumer. GTS prides itself on its confidentiality and independence and is accredited to ISO 9001 and ISO/IEC 17025 standards.