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I'm getting really nervous with the daily security threats that abound in the news. People forget that packaging has an important role to play in helping keep our products safe for consumption. R

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

emember the Tylenol packaging incident? Many packaging applications, such as the tamper evident seal and the shrink wrap band, were invented as a result of that incident. Frighteningly, a major c

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

ncern should be our food supply. One bio-terrorism incident in our food supply could be a thousand times more deadly than 9/11.

Packaging is starting to get some media play on this topic. I just

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

read an article that tied packaging to the bird flu. Really! Stay tuned next week for "How Packaging Causes Global Warming." I am just kidding. But let’s get serious. There are some pretty import

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

nt ways that packaging impacts our product security. In fact, I recently wrote about it in my 13 Packaging Trends for 06. The premise is that keeping products secure will be one of the most impor

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

tant influences on purchasing in the future.

Smart or intelligent packaging has an important role to play in protecting the public. New innovations are surfacing every day. As an example, I spok

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

about TTI's (time-temperature indicators) at the recent Marketing to Women Conference. It is amazing how this product security enhancement impacts the purchasing decision of the female consumer.

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

Some other exciting things I have read recently about how packaging can protect us include . . .

• A Canadian-based company's Toxin Guard is a system of placing antibody-based tests on polym

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

r packaging films to detect pathogens or other selected micro organisms. The insert sends a visual alert when it encounters targeted spoilage bacteria, or pathogens such as E-coli, Listeria and S

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

almonella.

• A French company, CRYOLOG, has designed the TRACEO® transparent label to trace freshness at a glance. Applied over a bar code, the label turns opaque when the product is no longe

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

fit for consumption by using an innovative patented microorganism technology that simulates the actual degradation of the product to which it is affixed.

• The January 2006 deadline related

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

o RFID tagging mandated by Wal-Mart has passed. Every one was in a frenzy about this and what it meant, but RFID technology has yet to be widely applied in an automated fashion. The reality of RF

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

D tracking is unlike current bar codes in which all similar items, e.g. 12 oz. cans of Coca-Cola, have the same number. RFID tags would give each individual item a unique identification number. T

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

hat means tracking literally everything -- including you. I was astounded to read that numerous major companies have patents on RFID implantation in humans.

• The jury on consumer acceptance

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

f RFID is still out. Consider this excerpt from the book Spychips:"Marketers want to tag data to identify you and profile your possessions so they can target you with marketing and advertising ma

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

erial wherever you go. Government agents crave the power of hidden spychips to monitor citizens' political activities and whereabouts. And, of course, criminals can't wait to identify easy marks

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

nd high-ticket items by scanning the contents of shopping bags and suitcases at a distance.--Katherine Albrecht & Liz McIntyre, Spychips, p 29."

Wow, that should open a few eyes. As I stated in

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

my packaging trend article, “Big Brother could be watching you from your package in the near future.” Just think tracking from the manufacture, through the consumer to the disposal site. I'm not

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

ure exactly how I feel about this. I have OnStar on one of my vehicles and it operates on a similar premise but it doesn't come inside my house. So think about smart packaging applications that m

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

ke sense. Keep an eye out for consumer opinion to determine how consumers feel about Big Brother watching them. The fear of being spied upon might impact a consumer’s decision to buy your product

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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Throughout the world a wide number of industries must monitor and control the flow of gases. These items are often monitored for developmental purposes, but they can be monitored for additional reasons. One of the best ways for gases to be monitored is by using digital mass flow control. Digital mass flow control is obtained by using a system known as a mass flow controller.

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