Schreiner MediPharm Labels Cut Oxygen Ingress in COC Syringes

Independent testing confirms Schreiner MediPharm’s specialty barrier labels sharply reduce oxygen ingress in COC plastic syringes, helping protect sensitive biologics and biosimilars.

Sensitive substances such as biologics and biosimilars typically must be protected from oxygen ingress to ensure efficacy and shelf life. When outfitted with gas barrier properties, Schreiner MediPharm’s functional labels provide pharmaceutical manufacturers with a validated solution that can be flexibly adapted to a variety of COC plastic syringes and substances.

Prefilled COC syringes offer lower weight, higher break resistance, greater design flexibility for complex geometries, and reduced protein adsorption compared to glass. At the same time, their gas permeability is higher, meaning more oxygen can enter the syringe and may impair product stability.

To address this challenge, Schreiner MediPharm developed functional labels with an integrated gas barrier. They clearly reduce oxygen ingress, and can be easily adapted to a variety of COC syringe types without requiring modifications of the primary container or changes to existing production processes.

The labels’ protective effects were tested as part of external studies by Professor Sven Sängerlaub PhD at the Munich University of Applied Sciences, as well as another renowned institute as part of a commissioned test. In a working group led by Professor Sängerlaub, the oxygen concentration in nitrogen-purged and sealed COC syringes was measured over an extended period of time in a contactless process using an optical oxygen sensor. The results show a clear reduction of oxygen ingress. In the case of a 1ml SCHOTT TOPPAC syringe, the Gas-Protect-Label extended the period before a critical oxygen concentration was reached by approximately sevenfold compared to an unlabeled syringe. The Syringe-Closure-Wrap with an integrated gas barrier achieved a roughly ten times longer protective effect.