Maruho Hatsujyo Innovations (MHI), the US subsidiary of Maruho Hatsujyo Kogyo Co. Ltd, a Japanese company with subsidiaries in Asia and the US, will showcase a blister machine specifically intended for stability testing, clinical trials, and similar small-run applications at Pack Expo Booth W-15058, 3–6 November in Chicago. The Eagle-LP, short for "Lab Pack," joins the company’s extensive blister packaging equipment family as a reliable, cost-effective solution for various concepting and development stages, as well as initial small-batch production.
The Eagle-LP addresses two longstanding challenges in early-stage blister packaging: affordability and floor space. Many pharmaceutical manufacturers have struggled to find blister units for stability testing, clinical trials, and small batch runs that are not prohibitively expensive or unnecessarily lengthy or bulky. The modestly priced Eagle-LP measures just 1.8 metres in both length and height, and only 0.9 metres in width.
Importantly, the Eagle-LP is also designed to accommodate a newer generation of more sustainable blister film substrates, which are typically more difficult to form and seal. The unit can easily accommodate PVC, PVDC, PET, ACLAR, ALU, and PP.
The Eagle-LP can run up to 20 cycles per minute, with a blister format area of 110 x 60 mm and a maximum blister depth of 20 mm. It can handle forming materials up to 320 mm in diameter, and lidding materials up to 220 mm in diameter. The unit is capable of both thermoforming and cold foil forming.
“As the number of tailored and small-run medicines continues to climb, product development professionals often find themselves with suboptimal early-stage blistering options, including purchasing large, expensive equipment or interrupting mass production machinery, which limits output capacity elsewhere,” said Tomoki Kishi, General Manager of Machinery Solutions for Maruho Hatsujyo Innovations. “The Eagle-LP provides a cost-effective solution designed to meet specific needs in upstream packaging, from stability testing and clinical trials to small-batch ramp-up production.”
